The Most Extreme Trans Healthcare Ban You've Never Heard Of  🔗 **Source:** [The Most Extreme Trans Healthcare Ban You've Never Heard Of](https://share.snipd.com/episode/8eeca892-c514-426b-bfe4-6d3d5b1f1c7e) ## Highlights - **Catholic Bishops Imposed A Nationwide Trans Care Ban** - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops enacted a nationwide ban on all transgender healthcare across Catholic-run systems on November 12, 2025. - The ban covers medications and surgeries for adults and youth and passed overwhelmingly 206 to 7, immediately removing prior local ambiguities and loopholes. Transcript: David Forbes This ban wasn't put in place by a legislature. It's not any institution that people have even the facade of an ability to really influence. And on November 12th, 2025, a complete and total trans health care ban, medications as well as surgeries, adults as well as youth, was put in place throughout every health care system Run by the Catholic Church in the U.S. Mia Wong Yeah. And that has not really like, I don't know, like, I've talked about it, like, we've mentioned it on the show before. I don't know if I've really seen any other, like, systemic, large-scale coverage of it. I mean, there was, like, a couple of articles when it came out, but other than TNN, like, this has been almost completely ignored, even though it is more draconian than any health care Ban that has gone into effect anywhere in the country. It is, again, as you said, this is a total health care ban for children and adults. David Forbes Yes. And for all types of trans health care. Yeah, for everything. Yeah. And that's the thing. So I've honestly been a little surprised by that, even old and cynical as I am. But TNN, as far as I know, is one of the only outlets, including queer and trans media, I won't say the only, but one of the only, that has done ongoing coverage on this, let alone in-depth, Extensive, what are the roots of this, how did we get here kind of coverage. I've done two articles on it, and those were in December. So a few weeks after it passed, we kind of went in detail on what it meant and the implications of what you were and have proven to be pretty horrifying. And also, the Catholic Church has pretty horrific history as an institution. While individual Catholics, as we'll get to, have a wide range of beliefs, including on trans rights, the institution itself has always been highly abusive, highly reactionary, And incredibly opposed to our very existence. And that just hasn't changed. It's actually escalating. And then we did one just last week that was on the actual impact. Like we talked to trans people around the country who'd encountered the impact of the Bishop's Ban, as I've heard a few folks call it, and I've called it a few times myself, and what it Means for their lives in the ground. So I guess there's two points we should hit immediately. Mia Wong One is sort of how this happened, and like how this ban sort of came together and was voted on by like who. And the second one is how many people this affects, because I think this is the part that's really been ignored, which is that like Catholic hospitals, it's not like they're running Like 10 of these. I mean, it would be bad if they were running 10 of these, but this is a significant part of the entire U.S. David Forbes Health care system. Yes, a massive part of it. Yeah. So I think that's very important to kind of touch on. So this was passed in November at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which they have regular meetings and decide policies and stuff. And it's one of the things, and this is going to be a recurring theme, and this is the degree to which I think even people think of themselves as progressives, I mean, fairly left, have Kind of bought hook, line, and sinker some of the propaganda, and it is overwhelmingly propaganda coming out of the Catholic Church since the mid-2010s when Pope Francis got in. So you were seeing from this conference, the big news in a lot of progressive circles was, oh, well, they made this statement against the Trump administration immigration. Yeah. But here's the thing. That was a statement. Certainly it's better than if they supported ICE, but it was a symbolic step largely. Yeah. Mia Wong Like they didn't even do like the very baseline thing, which would be like excommunicating J.D. Vance, a thing they could do and didn't because they're fucking cowards. Yeah. David Forbes But they didn't even do that. Yes. And we're going to get back to that. And often worse than cowards. Yeah. So at this conference, that got most of the headlines, but they also passed this very draconian anti-trans healthcare ban. Yeah. It passed overwhelmingly. This was not like some narrow victory by the conservative faction. No, it was almost everyone. It passed 206 to 7. Yeah. Jesus Christ. Interestingly, it was interesting listening to some of the proceedings of this, which may not be great for mental health, but was quite informative. Mia Wong Yeah. David Forbes And one of the one of the bishops involved, Robert Barron, cited Pope Francis, who was held out even sadly by some queer media as being this step forward for queer and trans rights, which I think was completely a farce, held out his rampant transphobia, which he was always very clear about. And quoted him saying that, viewed the existence of trans people, they used the far-right term gender ideology, as, and I quote, repugnant to the Bible and to our tradition. You could not ask for a more clear statement of hatred and extermination against trans people. Yeah. I mean, that's it. This is not an institution that, you know, is slowly but surely getting better. This institution that outside of the PR. It's getting worse. Yeah, is digging in on doing really very reactionary harm. And so the effects of that were pretty devastating and immediate. I mean, we'll get into some folks who dealt with stuff later that same month due to the ban in a little bit. But like the Catholic Church's health care networks are massive. By some estimates, one in six, one in seven of all people in the U.S. Go through a Catholic health care system at some point in a given year. It doesn't just include a few hospitals. It includes an incredibly sprawling network of clinics and specialists and doctors practices. Plenty of them are not outwardly Catholic even. So people may be going to a practice-owned room of the Catholic Church and not even be aware of it. It's also expanding. It's taking over and buying out previously secular practices. And this is a multifaceted problem. It goes along with cuts in federal aid. It goes along with the general capitalist fervor that kind of grips secular health care as well. So if they cut services, the Catholic Church often buys them up and expands. So it affects everyone in that, everyone who deals with that. And the Catholic Church has never been pro-trans remotely. But previously, prior to this ban, there was kind of a hodgepodge and some local ambiguities. And there were cases, and we'll get into some of them in a second, where local pro-trans Catholics or folks working at those networks could indeed provide pretty substantial trans Care through like one ambiguity or loophole or another. That just ended. All of it. So throughout that entire network, in some states, and ones you wouldn't necessarily think, including ones like Oregon and Washington that are ostensibly supposed to have like pretty Strict trans health care protections. Catholic hospitals comprise like over a third of hospital beds. And I think Washington is over 40 percent. So we're talking about of health care beds. We're talking about a substantial part of the American healthcare system. Four in ten of the largest healthcare networks are Catholic. That's how extensive this was. And now trans healthcare is banned in all of them. ([Time 0:04:07](https://share.snipd.com/snip/aba4d05f-3898-4fee-973a-0ded71691690)) - **Catholic Health Networks Are A Large Part Of US Care** - Catholic health networks make up a massive portion of U.S. healthcare, with estimates that one in six or one in seven people use a Catholic system annually and some states having over 40% of hospital beds Catholic-run. - Four of the ten largest healthcare networks are Catholic, so the bishops' policy instantly affects millions and removes access regionally, even in pro-trans states. Transcript: David Forbes By some estimates, one in six, one in seven of all people in the U.S. Go through a Catholic health care system at some point in a given year. It doesn't just include a few hospitals. It includes an incredibly sprawling network of clinics and specialists and doctors practices. Plenty of them are not outwardly Catholic even. So people may be going to a practice-owned room of the Catholic Church and not even be aware of it. It's also expanding. It's taking over and buying out previously secular practices. And this is a multifaceted problem. It goes along with cuts in federal aid. It goes along with the general capitalist fervor that kind of grips secular health care as well. So if they cut services, the Catholic Church often buys them up and expands. So it affects everyone in that, everyone who deals with that. And the Catholic Church has never been pro-trans remotely. But previously, prior to this ban, there was kind of a hodgepodge and some local ambiguities. And there were cases, and we'll get into some of them in a second, where local pro-trans Catholics or folks working at those networks could indeed provide pretty substantial trans Care through like one ambiguity or loophole or another. That just ended. All of it. So throughout that entire network, in some states, and ones you wouldn't necessarily think, including ones like Oregon and Washington that are ostensibly supposed to have like pretty Strict trans health care protections. Catholic hospitals comprise like over a third of hospital beds. And I think Washington is over 40 percent. So we're talking about of health care beds. We're talking about a substantial part of the American healthcare system. Four in ten of the largest healthcare networks are Catholic. That's how extensive this was. And now trans healthcare is banned in all of them. ([Time 0:09:17](https://share.snipd.com/snip/d9cd9763-d419-4142-8cc2-389bf0f26025)) - **Insurance Networks Amplify The Ban's Harm** - Trans people are disproportionately working class and often rely on ACA plans that exclude pricier secular providers, making Catholic network restrictions especially harmful. - When insurers cover only Catholic-affiliated providers, patients may lose access even if non-Catholic clinicians exist locally. Transcript: David Forbes This gets to a reality that goes through a lot of our coverage, which is that trans people are an overwhelmingly working class demographic. Yeah. I don't think that gets said enough. It doesn't get picked even in some queer and trans media. But that is incredibly important here. I began the second story with an interview that we published with an interview with Beth, who's a trans woman in the Midwest, and found it nearly impossible to find health care outside Of their networks. Because like a lot of trans people, Beth has an ACA plan. And because the secular networks are a little more expensive, some cases a lot more expensive, the ACA plans that are available to most trans people, you know, that they can remotely Afford, don't cover health care there. So you kind of have to, and then they don't provide your health care at all. And in that case, this was someone she'd been going across state borders, which she noticed kind of wild to get health care anyway, to go to Planned Parenthood, finally thought that She had found a practice closer to home, went there before the bishop's ban, like right before it hit. They seemed very welcoming. She knew other trans people that had gotten care of there before. And everything seemed great, goes back after the ban. And it's like, oh, I'm sorry, we can't help you. And this wasn't a practice that was obviously Catholic. It didn't, no giant cruise fixes or anything hanging on it. It was just one that was, oh, it's a doctor's office. Some other trans people have gotten care there it beats driving at least an hour each way if not more yeah again you know when you're working glass a two-hour you know round trip commute Is a lot that's you know especially with gas being up more like that's a lot of money and it's screened things even further and so she had to go back to traveling across state. But, you know, I think some folks assume, and she points out like, oh, you just go to another provider. You often can't. There's not that option. Mia Wong Yeah, there isn't one. David Forbes Even in some fairly major cities, there is not that option unless you have a lot more money or health care through a fairly well-heeled employer. ([Time 0:12:33](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9e321394-88bb-4e15-a08e-df6a70cb46a1)) - **Midwest Patient Lost Local Care Overnight** - Beth, a trans woman in the Midwest, relied on an ACA plan and a nearby nonobvious Catholic-affiliated practice for care until the bishops' ban forced that clinic to refuse care overnight. - She had to resume long interstate travel for treatment because nearby options were either unaffordable or not covered by her insurance. Transcript: David Forbes Find health care outside of their networks. Because like a lot of trans people, Beth has an ACA plan. And because the secular networks are a little more expensive, some cases a lot more expensive, the ACA plans that are available to most trans people, you know, that they can remotely Afford, don't cover health care there. So you kind of have to, and then they don't provide your health care at all. And in that case, this was someone she'd been going across state borders, which she noticed kind of wild to get health care anyway, to go to Planned Parenthood, finally thought that She had found a practice closer to home, went there before the bishop's ban, like right before it hit. They seemed very welcoming. She knew other trans people that had gotten care of there before. And everything seemed great, goes back after the ban. And it's like, oh, I'm sorry, we can't help you. And this wasn't a practice that was obviously Catholic. It didn't, no giant cruise fixes or anything hanging on it. It was just one that was, oh, it's a doctor's office. Some other trans people have gotten care there it beats driving at least an hour each way if not more yeah again you know when you're working glass a two-hour you know round trip commute Is a lot that's you know especially with gas being up more like that's a lot of money and it's screened things even further and so she had to go back to traveling across state. ([Time 0:12:59](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4d366679-9c07-43b9-9398-24dcedb6df97)) - **Staff Were Providing Care Until The Ban Hit** - A pharmacy intern reported that the Catholic hospital where they trained performed at least one gender-affirming procedure per week and staff were largely pro-trans before the ban. - That local goodwill and pragmatic loophole (deferring to insurer necessity) was erased once the bishops issued the ban. Transcript: David Forbes And it was from a pharmacy intern, basically, someone who's been studying to be a pharmacist and did a, you know, a stint, a training stint in a Catholic hospital right before the bishop's Ban hit and said that they were doing at least one gender-affirming procedure a week. Jesus Christ. A week. And that actually, you know, this was someone who had dealt with the institution before and had not got great experiences and was actually heading into this, you know, kind of this 12-week Stint, expecting to have to deal with, you know, the problems of being a trans person with a religious institution. And I actually said, no, this particular hospital, the folks who work there were super pro-trans, super accepting. They were actively providing trans care and mentioned even because it was a moral area. And that's that alone that was, you know, a gender affirming care procedure most weeks should be a reminder that a lot of trans people also don't live in major cities. They live in smaller cities. They live in small towns, rural areas even. By a mile, actually, the region of the U.S. With the largest trans population is the South. Yeah. And the Midwest is very closely tied with the West, which includes the West Coast, for second. So they mentioned that there was a sense of the staff, like, look, if you're in LA, okay, there's a bunch of Catholic hospitals, a bunch of other ones too. So the people seeking out Catholic hospitals may be a bit more conservative. There are more likely to be other alternatives now, so healthcare access may be a problem there too. But in our era, the kind of staff had a sense, look, if we don't do it, no one else will. And so they didn't be pretty pro-trans. The loophole they used, the ambiguity, I guess, the very first reason they used was if an insurer, secular or otherwise, said, hey, this procedure is necessary, they didn't question It. And under the previous pre-Bishop Spann situation, there was kind of a bit of that leeway. This is an example of, you know, some of them Catholic, pro-trans folks in a rural area, actually doing some real good. And then because they kind of maneuvered in this gray area, and this ban just completely ended that. ([Time 0:19:49](https://share.snipd.com/snip/13d0f11d-114d-4d71-9938-bb183030ee61)) - **Priest Vetoed Surgery In A Precedent Case** - In 2017 a California Catholic hospital allowed a priest with no medical experience to veto a trans man's scheduled top surgery and discharged him mid-treatment, illustrating preexisting local abuses. - That sort of unilateral interference is now a uniform policy across Catholic systems. Transcript: David Forbes Because there's like two, maybe three if you're lucky. Yep. And that's maybe for a whole region. And, you know, a lot of trans people, maybe even most live outside of what you think of as a few, you know, major metropoli. But also there was a, while I was looking into this, there was a case in 2017, it was before the bishop's ban, where a Catholic hospital in California, on paper at least has fairly strong Trans health care protections for the u.s yeah where a priest with no medical experience comes in last minute vetoes the top surgery for a trans man and they kick him out on the street Still on the drugs the pre-surgery drugs what the fuck jesus christ. Mia Wong He sued them, rightly. David Forbes Yeah. Like, you know, this is a hospital in New York, California. We go into it a little bit in the story. So like that was happening before, but that's now everywhere. Yeah. And the few cases like the hospital that we mentioned, where there were folks working around that to still provide some health care, that's probably gone now. ([Time 0:23:17](https://share.snipd.com/snip/26a87255-ad5e-4488-8fc3-4c290b28fb86)) - **Organized LGBTQ Groups Largely Avoid Confronting Churches** - Many mainstream LGBTQ organizations and progressive commentators have been reluctant to confront religious institutions, reducing organized pressure against the bishops' ban. - This retreat contrasts with historical militant actions like ACT UP that successfully forced institutional change when direct pressure was applied. Transcript: David Forbes Fight because they're too busy glazing the papacy not just them i mean progressives in general are are lately glazing the papacy way too much yeah and it's just this issue that trickles Mia Wong Down too to like the fact that the sbc right the southern bathys convention the fact that there hasn't been a sort of broad scale offensive against them you know even though they've been Like driving. Also a massive problem. Yeah. Yeah. Driving like all of this shit for fucking ages. And they were like, you know, like there was a point like a couple of years ago where they were genuinely seriously weakened by their series of like of internal abuse scandals. Yes. That are also backing the healthcare bans on the legislative level. There's no sort of political will to actually go to war with the right-wing churches that are doing this stuff. David Forbes Well, so this is an interesting difference, and it relates to what we were just talking about. The sentiments I hear among trans folks on the ground, you know, working-class trans folks, pretty anti-clerical, like to put it mildly. It tends to be more gentry types, especially ones more in Scots and institutions or like, you know, official political culture, the gang stuff we've been mentioning that have more Of this aversion. And I will have to say it wasn't always this way. I am old enough to remember when queer organizing, taking aim at, mocking, even directly going the attack against, suing definitely, religious institutions was a pretty common fixture. ([Time 0:28:20](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f46be278-a7c1-4161-b17d-6e1e18fca308)) - **Ban Extends Beyond Catholics To Everyone Using The System** - Catholic directives affect non-Catholics too because insurers, employers, and pharmacies can be tied to Catholic healthcare networks, meaning the ban can block care for patients and providers with no church affiliation. - The ban therefore functions like theocratic rule over broad public healthcare access, not just church members. Transcript: David Forbes Goes well beyond the you know even supposed power in a secular society that you know religious i have all we can you know they can make this pronouncement that applies to those who believe In that religion or that specific denomination or institution or whatever. No, this is affecting plenty of people who have never set foot in a Catholic church, who are remotely Catholic. Even the providers that they're going to aren't Catholic, and this is still happening, because that's the kind of sway and power they have. And it's not been seriously challenged, including by liberals and even too many leftists. And you mentioned the Southern Baptist Convention earlier. It isn't just the Catholic Church, but because of the sheer scale and the centralized nature of its hierarchy, they are certainly probably the single most damaging institution on This front. The SBC is a problem while they operate on far too vast a scale. They don't operate in the scale the Catholic Church does. Mia Wong Yeah, and this is, like, this is, you know, fundamentally, like, part of the issue here is just, it's just, there's a, I don't know if advantage is the right term here, but, like, the centralization Of the Catholic Church relative to, like, the sort of divided Protestants denominations allows them to wield power yes like collectively in a way that is a lot harder for something Like the spc where just like it just doesn't have the scale that like that that the church does and like that the catholic church doesn't because the catholic church is this large is able To just buy out this much of the hospital system and then because of the of the top-down structures where the bishops can just go in and vote and implement this stuff, it's a really, really, Really significant problem that is just not being dealt with. This is not a problem that you can just snap your fingers and solve by running stuff through a state legislature. No. You actually have to go after the institution. David Forbes Have to fight them on their ground yes and also this is you know it's it's kind of what i ended the december piece with but also it's something i've emphasized in the second one anyone who Wants any kind of liberatory future regardless of whatever their personal beliefs are anti-clericalism has to be part of it it's not the same against you know being against every individual Of a certain religion it is specifically against this kind of theocratic hierarchy and its power over people's lives yeah you do not get to anything remotely liberatory without directly Attacking and challenging that and for too long that struggle's largely been abandoned yeah and not shockingly, fundamentalists of various varieties, and let's be honest, primarily Christian fundamentalists, have played a major role in American fascism and in stripping rights from entire groups. And it's interesting because you mentioned the council bishop beside this. That's true, but it gets even more centralized than that. The progressive pope getting praised for condemning the Iran war, and it's always condemning or statements or this or that. The Catholic Church is still kind of an absolute theocratic monarchy in some ways. He could just say, hey, American bishops, don't do that. I'm overruling you. You do have to provide trans health care under whatever circumstances, or ideally all of them. He's chosen not to. ([Time 0:37:00](https://share.snipd.com/snip/19b230c1-62d4-4155-98d9-b85de1cb0c15))