Report: Nearly 150 Catholic Hospitals Provided Transgender Surgeries or Drugs to Children
Summary
A report by Do No Harm claims that nearly 150 Catholic hospitals in the U.S. provided hormone therapy or gender-transition surgeries to minors between 2019 and 2023, despite Church teachings prohibiting such procedures. The data indicates that over 520 minors received these treatments, with 152 surgeries performed at 33 hospitals. Providence, a Catholic health network, conducted half of these surgeries across its facilities in five states. The Catholic Health Association (CHA) criticized the report's methodology, stating it lacks context and stigmatizes LGBTQ communities, while Do No Harm defended its findings as accurately highlighting child safety concerns. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) reaffirms that gender-transition interventions contradict Catholic teachings on human dignity and urges Catholic healthcare to prioritize supportive psychotherapy.
Relevance
Interesting conflict between a watchdog group (DoNoHarm) vs. the catholic health association which is refuting these findings. The CHA has in the past contradicted U.S. bishops. CHA stated that 'Catholic hospitals provide ethical, evidence-based medical care that recognizes and upholds the human dignity of each person' and accused Do No Harm of stigmatizing LGBTQ communities. While they stated that some procedures will not be performed based on values and faith, they did not specify which ones.