The US Catholic bishops have issued guidelines seeking to prevent Catholic hospitals from providing transgender care, a move LGBTQ advocates say could harm health physical and mental health of transgender people in the church.
The 14-page doctrinal note, titled “Ethical Limits to Technological Manipulation of the Human Body,” offers guidelines for changing one’s sex, especially with the young. . The document issued on Monday states that Catholic hospitals “must not carry out interventions, whether surgical or chemical, with the aim of transforming the sex characteristics of the human body into bodies of the opposite sex, or participate in the development of such processes”.
Related: Catholic medical institutions can refuse transgender care, court rules
Transgender Catholics have received mixed reactions across the US church. Some have been accepted in specific parishes and rejected in certain dioceses, including those that forbid church staff from using transgender preferred gender pronouns. Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, an organization that advocates for greater LGBTQ acceptance in the church, said the bishops’ latest guidance for Catholic health centers could discourage people. transgender get the health care they need.
Catholic hospitals make up a significant portion of the U.S. health care system, and in some communities they are the only option. The Catholic Medical Association, which includes more than 600 hospitals and 1,400 long-term care and other medical facilities in the United States, says more than one in seven patients in U.S. hospitals receive care at one. Catholic base.
“These decisions are being made at a much higher level without knowing the individual individuals and cases involved,” DeBernardo said. “When transgender people are not allowed or restricted to convert in a way that they feel is appropriate, it can lead to depression, anxiety or even self-harm, including suicide.”
The bishops’ guidelines “will not change much” when it comes to the care of transgender patients in Catholic hospitals, said Father Charlie Bouchard, senior director of theology and funding. . Transgender people will continue to be accepted at all times in Catholic hospitals and treated with dignity and respect, he said, but may not receive all the gender-appropriate care they receive. required because of the theological and moral teachings of the church.
“When we looked at the literature from the bishops, what we noticed was that we have a history of caring for the marginalized, and we see transgender people as very much a marginalized group. marginalized society,” he said.
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Bouchard said Catholic hospitals accept transgender patients with a variety of health care needs, from fractures to cancer and heart attack treatment, adding that hospitals will not do so. perform cosmetic procedures such as reconstructive surgery, a hysterectomy or treatments such as sterilization upon request, unless there is a medical need for them.
He said Catholic hospitals are also training staff to respect transgender patients: “When patients come in, we ask staff to respect the way they ask questions. We want to affirm transgender people as human beings and provide them with mental care and psychological counseling.”
Bouchard said Catholic hospitals will “provide science-based healthcare and continue to follow science when it comes to transgender people.”
“But we don’t deal with ideology,” he said. “We treat patients who are really suffering. There are things about gender flexibility that we disagree with. But as a Catholic hospital, we have to follow the same standard of care as other hospitals.”
DeBernardo disagrees, saying the bishops’ doctrinal guidelines do more harm than heal people by not paying attention to science.
“The unwillingness of bishops to challenge any evidence from the scientific community or the experience of transgender people is neither good theology nor acceptable pastoral care,” he said. receive.
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DeBernardo said he sees hope as more Catholics sit on the bench to show a greater understanding of transgender life. He noted cases of Catholic parents advocating for their transgender children against restrictive policies in Catholic schools, including the ban on those who interfere with puberty and the preferred personal pronouns. on campus and in the parish.
Christine Zuba, a transgender woman living in New Jersey, said she feels accepted in her local parish, but is saddened that the national church “continues to deny the existence and need for care.” our health”. Zuba said she was disappointed to see transgender people not even mentioned in the 14-page document.
“In my parish, I feel accepted unconditionally for who I am,” she said. “But that’s missing from our hierarchy. There is no willingness to join us and understand our lives.
Zuba said she is pleased to see more engagement and interaction in some dioceses. In Davenport, Iowa, Bishop Thomas Zinkula founded the Gender Committee calling on Catholics to “listen to those on the margins,” calling serving LGBTQ people — especially transgender people — a “life issue.” living”. In an article published in Catholic Messenger, Zinkula said he was haunted by the story of a transgender youth who attempted suicide after being denied Holy Communion.
“This kind of thing should never happen again,” he wrote.
Zuba said she would like to see that kind of commitment to listening and learning in the upper echelons of the church.
“All we ask is to listen to us as a team and as individuals,” she said. “Open your heart and try to understand.”
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