Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Bishops Issue 14-Page Doctrine Against Transgender Care In Catholic Hospitals
AP: U.S. Bishops' New Guidelines Aim To Limit Trans Health Care
United States Catholic bishops have issued guidelines that seek to stop Catholic hospitals from providing gender transition care, a move LGBTQ advocates say could harm the physical and emotional health of transgender people within the church. The 14-page doctrinal note, titled “Moral Limits to the Technological Manipulation of the Human Body,” sets forth guidelines for changing a person’s sex, specifically with youth. The document, issued Monday, says Catholic hospitals “must not perform interventions, whether surgical or chemical, that aim to transform the sexual characteristics of a human body into those of the opposite sex, or take part in the development of such procedures.” (Bharath, 3/24)
In updates on transgender health care in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas —
AP: Kentucky Governor Vetoes Sweeping GOP Transgender Measure
Kentucky’s Democratic governor issued an election-year veto Friday of a sweeping Republican bill aimed at regulating the lives of transgender youths that includes banning access to gender-affirming health care and restricting the bathrooms they can use. ... Gov. Andy Beshear said in a written veto message that the bill allows “too much government interference in personal healthcare issues and rips away the freedom of parents to make medical decisions for their children.” In his one-page message, he warned that the bill’s repercussions would include an increase in youth suicides. The governor said, “My faith teaches me that all children are children of God and Senate Bill 150 will endanger the children of Kentucky.” (Schreiner, 3/24)
Modern Healthcare: Tennessee Trans Bill Puts Medicaid Contracts At Risk
A novel bill making its way through the Tennessee General Assembly could have reverberating effects on Medicaid managed care procurement throughout the U.S. Tennessee Speaker of the House of Representatives Cameron Sexton (R) and Speaker of the Senate Randy McNally (R), who also is lieutenant governor, sponsored the Tennessee MCO Reform Act, which would prohibit the state Medicaid agency from contracting with insurers that cover gender-affirming treatment for anyone, anywhere in the country. (Hartnett, 3/27)
The Texas Tribune: Texas Lawmakers, Medical Groups Clash On Transition-Related Health Care
Several Republican Texas lawmakers are clashing with medical groups over whether puberty blockers and hormone therapies help or hurt transgender kids. Those conflicting positions come as some legislators push bills that would limit — or completely block — queer youth from accessing transition-related treatments that many medical associations support. Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, is championing a bill that would bar doctors from providing such treatments — but only if they’re used to help a child gender transition. During a debate last week on her Senate Bill 14, Campbell and opponents of transition-related care portrayed doctors who provide such care as opportunists capitalizing on a “social contagion” with treatments that lack sufficient scientific data that could determine whether the care is safe and effective. (Melhado, 3/24)
