The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved new guidance on Wednesday that explicitly prohibits Catholic hospitals from performing transgender-related surgeries or providing other medical interventions that alter sexual characteristics.

The directive to update the “ Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services ” was approved in a vote with 206 in favor, eight voting no and seven abstaining, reported the National Catholic Reporter .

The directive states that because “creation is prior to us and must be received as a gift,” Catholic health care services must not offer surgical, hormonal or genetic procedures that aim to change the fundamental order of the human body rather than restore it. This includes gender-transition surgeries and non-therapeutic forms of

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