Dozens of children received sex-changes at Catholic hospitals in Wisconsin from 2019 - 2023, according to a bombshell report that came out last week, but bishops seem unconcerned.
Do No Harm (DNH) launched its “Stop the Harm” database last Tuesday documenting all healthcare providers in the country that filed insurance claims for conducting sex-changes on minors. The group admits that this method captures only a portion of those procedures.
“[That] number should be seen as a floor and not a ceiling. DNH wanted to make sure every case identified was a transgender procedure and not potentially something else so their numbers are probably conservative,” a spokesman for the group told MacIver.
The presence of Catholic hospitals on that list is shocking. Across the country, there were 678 children who received sex-changes at Catholic hospitals from 2019 – 2023. Those Catholic facilities performed actual sex-change surgery on 170 of those children.
“The transgender craze exploded only in the last few years, and bishops could not have been expected to know this was going on. Now that they do, we need to rally behind them to push through the necessary reforms,” according to CatholicVote Director of the Catholic Accountability Project Tommy Valentine.
Six catholic hospitals in Wisconsin are in the Stop the Harm database. Together those Catholic facilities provided sex-changes to 24 children from 2019-23.
Facility |
Diocese |
Total |
Surgical Patients |
Ascension NE Wisconsin St. Elizabeth Campus (Appleton) |
Green Bay |
7 |
6 |
HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center |
Green Bay |
1 |
1 |
SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital Madison |
Madison |
8 |
0 |
HSHS St. Vincent Hospital |
Green Bay |
1 |
0 |
Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital St. Joseph Campus |
Milwaukee |
6 |
6 |
SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital Fond Du Lac |
Green Bay |
1 |
0 |
Diocese of Madison
One Catholic hospital in the Diocese of Madison was on the list. SSM Health, which runs St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, describes itself as “a Catholic, not-for-profit, fully integrated health system.” It provided hormone and puberty blockers to 8 children at St. Mary’s from 2019 to 2023. It also provided hormone and puberty blockers to 1 child in Fond Du Lac at St. Agnes Hospital.
The Diocese of Madison, which has jurisdiction over all Catholic institutions in Madison, told MacIver News, “Following discussions with SSM Health leadership, Bishop Hying has been assured that currently SSM Health providers in the Diocese of Madison are in conformity with the Catholic Church’s moral teachings prohibiting gender-transition interventions, both chemical and surgical.”
Diocese of Green Bay
Three Catholic hospitals in the Diocese of Green Bay was on the list. Ascension NE Wisconsin St. Elizabeth Campus in Appleton had 7 underage sex-change patients and performed sex-change surgery on 6 of them. St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay had 1 underage sex-change patients, who received sex-change surgery. St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay and St. Agnes Hospital in Fond Du Lac each had 1 patient.
St. Mary’s and St. Vincent’s are part of the Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS), and cannot claim to be “Catholic” in name only. HSHS is sponsored by the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis and is recognized by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and is subject to Church law. It is supposed to “embody the belief that every life is a sacred gift and every human being is a unity of body, mind and spirit.”
The Diocese of Green Bay told MacIver News that Bishop David Ricken is aware of the Stop the Harm database but does not intend to do anything about it.
“The area Catholic hospitals are not run by the Diocese of Green Bay. They are governed by their own independent boards of directors,” according to his office. “It is the expectation that these Catholic healthcare systems follow the ministry and teachings of the Church by continuing Jesus' mission of love and healing so as not to threaten the unique dignity a person receives from the moment of conception.”
Archdiocese of Milwaukee
One Catholic Hospital in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee was on the list. Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital St. Joseph Campus in Milwaukee had 6 underage patients, all of whom received sex-change surgical operations.
MacIver News has not yet received a response from the archdiocese about its reaction to the database.
Catholic Doctrine
So-called “transgender care” has never been allowed under Catholic doctrine, but earlier this year the Vatican decided to put it in writing. It issued a document called Dignitas Infinita, which declares sex-change procedures to be "grave violations of human dignity in our time." It is not known, yet, whether Catholic hospitals continued to provide sex-change services after it was issued.
“Catholic” Organizations
It is important to note that organizations cannot call themselves “Catholic” without the local bishop’s approval, and bishops are not shy about having that authority. A political newspaper called the “Wisconsin Catholic Tribune” starting showing up in southern Wisconsin recently. Many of its stories point out how liberal policies are incompatible with the Catholic faith. When Wisconsin bishops found out, they proved that they are capable of issue strong statements.
“The Diocese of Madison is not affiliated with a newspaper called the Wisconsin Catholic Tribune. This publication does not have permission in the Diocese of Madison to present itself as Catholic,” according to the Diocese of Madison’s Facebook page.
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee echoed that statement.
No Wisconsin diocese has issued a similar statement about their “Catholic” hospitals performing sex-change services on minors and still calling themselves “Catholic.”
Other Wisconsin Hospitals
The Stop the Harm database shows that between 2019 and 2024, at least 198 minors received sex-change services in Wisconsin. Half of those were surgical patients.
University Hospital in Madison is the most active, with 28 patients, including 15 surgical patients. Bellin in Green Bay had 22 patients, including 10 surgery patients. Dean Health had 16 patients, all surgical. There was a total of 52 institutions on the list.
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