Would it be immoral to observe a sex-change operation?

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Hello, I am a nursing student and this semester I am assigned to a hospital where they commonly perform plastic surgery and sex-change operations. I only have one OR rotation (meaning I will only be in the operation unit one day this semester). But in the event there happens to be a sex-change operation going on the day I am in the OR unit, do I have a moral obligation to avoid observing the operation?

I understand that the Church allows “sex-change” operations for people who suffer from conditions such as hermaphroditism. And I certainly don’t want to sound like I am judging anyone, I am just trying to make sure that I am not doing anything wrong by watching something like this.

Thank you, God bless:)
 
Are the surgical techniques used in sex change surgery applicable to other necessary surgeries?

Accident victims, cancer, etc.

I’m seeing this more from a technical surgical stand point, tools, procedures, etc. but the Church may see it differently.

Good question though.
 
If you have no say or power to stop the operation and are not participating in it, then no, you are not doing anything wrong. The problem will come if/when you will be expected to assist in such surgery. Then you will want to have a talk with your priest, and may have to decide to take your training elsewhere. It’s definitely something to think of before you’re put in that position. 🙂
 
Hello, I am a nursing student and this semester I am assigned to a hospital where they commonly perform plastic surgery and sex-change operations. I only have one OR rotation (meaning I will only be in the operation unit one day this semester). But in the event there happens to be a sex-change operation going on the day I am in the OR unit, do I have a moral obligation to avoid observing the operation?

I understand that the Church allows “sex-change” operations for people who suffer from conditions such as hermaphroditism. And I certainly don’t want to sound like I am judging anyone, I am just trying to make sure that I am not doing anything wrong by watching something like this.

Thank you, God bless:)
Your job is to observe the nursing care , sterile technique and the like during the operation. Keep your focus more on that and you should be fine.
 
It couldn’t hurt to have a Christian in the OR praying for the patients total well being.
 
Yes, it would be very wrong to observe or play any part of such an abomination as a so-called “sex change” operation. There is actually no such thing as an operation that changes one’s sex since they can’t change the genetics that make a man a man and a woman a woman. A man who gets a so-called “sex change” operation is making himself nothing more than a eunuch. A so-called “sex change” operation is a grievous act of cruelty to the victim of one.
 
What a kind, compassionate answer.
That is a very compassionate answer!

I shall very well pray for the patient(s) when I am there. It would be nice if I didn’t have to watch this particular type of surgery but I am just not sure what will happen that day.

Thank you all for answering my question. I really appreciate it.

stevejosemkat, I agree with you that sex-change operations (when a person just wants to “change” their gender) are absolutely wrong. I certainly don’t care to watch one. However, I think as an observer, I don’t think I am condoning anything by just standing there in the operating room. People may just think I am there simply for educational purposes such as learning about sterile technique and how the healthcare workers all work together to protect the patient from any potential infection. I don’t think anyone can really infer whether or not I condone sex-change operations unless of course I were to assist in such a thing, which I will not be doing. I appreciate your response. God bless.

-Jennifer
 
Funny you should ask. I’m in Nursing school at a Catholic university, taking my first med-surg rotation and taking a med ethics course taught by a Prof who also works for the diocese.

Off the top of my head (I can re-check my class notes when I get home), it would be a real stretch for anyone to claim you even had material cooperation in an unethical act (and that is assuming that under the circumstances it would be). And even if you were determined to have material cooperation, it would be so remote as to not render your participation unethical or scandalous. (Sorry if I got my conclusion wrong, Professor, lol).

Two resources I can suggest. First, the ERD’s (Ethical Religious Directives) from the USCCB. They’re free online, but a required text at my school. Second, there’s the National Catholic Bioethics Center. Father Tad writes some very accessible columns, and there’s tons of good info there. Plus, they offer reduced rates for us poor broke Nursing Students who want to join and get the extra bennies.
 
Funny you should ask. I’m in Nursing school at a Catholic university, taking my first med-surg rotation and taking a med ethics course taught by a Prof who also works for the diocese.

Off the top of my head (I can re-check my class notes when I get home), it would be a real stretch for anyone to claim you even had material cooperation in an unethical act (and that is assuming that under the circumstances it would be). And even if you were determined to have material cooperation, it would be so remote as to not render your participation unethical or scandalous. (Sorry if I got my conclusion wrong, Professor, lol).

Two resources I can suggest. First, the ERD’s (Ethical Religious Directives) from the USCCB. They’re free online, but a required text at my school. Second, there’s the National Catholic Bioethics Center. Father Tad writes some very accessible columns, and there’s tons of good info there. Plus, they offer reduced rates for us poor broke Nursing Students who want to join and get the extra bennies.
Thank you so much for posting! What you have said is quite helpful. I actually had my OR rotation yesterday and I don’t even think they had any “sex-change” operations going on that day. I watched several other surgeries that had nothing to do with reproductive organs aside from a hysterectomy.
I went ahead and bookmarked those two websites for I am sure they will be useful in the future. So thank you very much and I will pray that you are successful in nursing school! You are very blessed to have a Catholic university in your area 😉
 
Yes, it would be very wrong to observe or play any part of such an abomination as a so-called “sex change” operation. There is actually no such thing as an operation that changes one’s sex since they can’t change the genetics that make a man a man and a woman a woman. A man who gets a so-called “sex change” operation is making himself nothing more than a eunuch. A so-called “sex change” operation is a grievous act of cruelty to the victim of one.
The proper terminology is gender-reassignment surgery and it is not used exclusively for transsexuals but also for intersex cases (people born with chromosomal defects in sex differentiation), what would colloquially be known as “hermaphroditism”. These people are often born with ambiguous external genitalia and may chose to be assigned to one gender or the other at some point in their lives (the practice of assigning them as infants is losing favour due to some very tragic mistakes).

Some sex-reassignment surgical techniques might also be used for reconstructive surgery following, for instance, damage from cancer or accidental injuries.

What is very wrong is to categorically box people into black-and-white cases when clearly there are people born with various degrees of intersex that in fact make gender identity a very gray area for them. One might also argue that true transsexualism is a form of intersex as there are biological differences to the brain.

The Church does not appear, BTW, to have definitely pronounced herself on these situations.
 
Like the O P said. The safest thing to do is talk to a priest and he will tell you exactly what you can do.

Antrim
 
You can assist even, it is not your will, it is the patients will. Read on please, at the end ponder, but don’t be too shocked as you proceed, Please, Please, Please…

To not agree yet to help is even what God says He does, when He says, essentially, I help the good and the bad.

Abortions are like that ,in a way.

The consequences of an abortion are horrible to that person. This next part I don’t know for sure,but, it may be horrible to the baby also, because he or she is aware.

The proofs are out there for even misscarriages, that all the women know, it was a person even then, but they know it afterwards.

With the woman I worked with, she knew also her abortions were people, years later. She didn’t know it was wrong then. She also had fairly severe mental problems. There are others who don’t know abortions are wrong. They will get abortions anyway. Some used to do it themselves. Others still, were the victims of hack artists who knew nothing of women or medicine and physically killled or damaged them for life.

God says he forgives. He does. If he forgives, the wrong, it is their job to ask him and learn. It is not yours, nor mine, nor some religion that is not her’s to set the standards of conduct for her.

Sometimes the only way to learn about God, is to go against what He says is true. It is for all those, who error against what God says is true, that our compassion, our mercy, our abilities to keep additional horrors from happening, that allow our help, even to those in error.

Now, Biblically, in Romans, Paul speaking under the power of The Holy Spirit says, that it is God who determines when someone or if someone will ever know Him. It is not by our will or desire or even hard work, It is God’s. It is God’s.

So, when we put our knowledge of God, to work as a law for others, we are telling God in a way, who, and when someone is to know Him.

Sex reassignment surgery is in fact unknown so far as to whether it is morally wrong, to God. It is not known. It is further complicated by those born who do not fit into the perfect body type of male or female. (Which are they in that case, and who is to decide, if not only that person?)

It also falls under the condition, of it’s between God and them, especially if the stimulus is strong enough. Even if they are wrong they will be found out. They will tell…someone. God, it seems, will even forgive that.

Another prohibition in the Bible, from Jesus, is in setting standards for others. It comes before and after the statement of “If they are not against us, they are for us.” ((Mark 9:38-42 I think…?)) What He tells, The present Bishops of their days, is to not anger, nor set standards for those who know less than the Bishops do. He said, He would be angry with them for causing them to reject Him. He said, and this is important because it puts the dissapointment of Jesus on them also, He said, I will be angrier at you for doing that, than I would be at them if they did that to you.

Do you see, where he put restrictions on all of humanity for angering others in the form of their understanding of Him?

What does this all mean. I hope it is clear. Mary Pondered things. If this is not clear ponder it.

If it were me. I would help. I would also, given the chance, tell them, not what to do, but what I know to be TRUE.

…Curt…
 
The proper terminology is gender-reassignment surgery and it is not used exclusively for transsexuals but also for intersex cases (people born with chromosomal defects in sex differentiation), what would colloquially be known as “hermaphroditism”. These people are often born with ambiguous external genitalia and may chose to be assigned to one gender or the other at some point in their lives (the practice of assigning them as infants is losing favour due to some very tragic mistakes).

Some sex-reassignment surgical techniques might also be used for reconstructive surgery following, for instance, damage from cancer or accidental injuries.

What is very wrong is to categorically box people into black-and-white cases when clearly there are people born with various degrees of intersex that in fact make gender identity a very gray area for them. One might also argue that true transsexualism is a form of intersex as there are biological differences to the brain.

The Church does not appear, BTW, to have definitely pronounced herself on these situations.
 
Sorry. The Ethical Religious Directives of the USCCB say absolutely not. They are clear in stating abortion is not permitted. Participating in an essential circumstance of an unethical act constitutes immediate material cooperation, and is always unethical.

Because the patient made the decision does not allow you to assist, any more than the patient’s decision to end her own life would allow you to hold a firearm steady for her.
 
I don’t know 100% what the Church says about gender re-assignment surgery, but honestly, I think some people take this way too seriously.

Go for it. Honestly, as a nurse, I can tell you, the more surgeries you see the more amazed you will be.

People who are living in a body they think is wrong for them, ie. wrong gender, have a heck of a hard time, mentally as well as socially. When people start going on about how they shouldn’t usurp God when God made them male/female whatever. Well, by the logic, we shouldn’t correct deformities, since God made them that way.

This is one of those don’t judge instances. This isn’t abortion. No one is being killed. A person is being given the gender they beleive they were supposed to be. Just because someone beleives they are another gender then the body they are living in, doesn’t mean their some kind of pervert or out to commit scandal.

Go. Enjoy. Learn. And pray that the surgery goes well, without any hitches and that teh patient feels whole afterwards. Because I’ve heard it hurts like a monkey wrench upside the head.
 
Where in the Bible does it say sex reassignment surgery is wrong? Where in the Bible does it say transgenderism is a sin?

My understanding is that its a birth defect. If you had a child who was born with a physical anomaly such as one arm or extra limbs, would you not want him/her to have corrective surgery so they can have a normal life?

My advice is to stop judging!
 
Where in the Bible does it say sex reassignment surgery is wrong? Where in the Bible does it say transgenderism is a sin?

My understanding is that its a birth defect. If you had a child who was born with a physical anomaly such as one arm or extra limbs, would you not want him/her to have corrective surgery so they can have a normal life?

My advice is to stop judging!
There is nothing wrong with corrective surgery when the sex of the person is in doubt due to physical defect. However, to undergo an operation to remove perfectly healthy genitalia in order to “feel” more like another gender is a mutilation not a correction. That is what the Church objects to.
 
I respectfully disagree with those of you who think I am being judgemental by asking this question.

I am not indicating that a person, who clearly has either male or female DNA, and who chooses to have sex-reassignment surgery is a bad person, a pervert, or some lesser than.

These people are made in the image and likeness of God. They deserve to be treated with respect and dignity which is why as a Christian I have to do what I can to uphold their dignity.

Supporting a person or assisting in someone’s desire to be someone other than who God calls them to be is not upholding their dignity. It is leading them to feel even more incomplete and alienating them further from the God who gave them life. How can we know who God is calling a person to be? Well of course we can’t know everything about that. But we do know that God never calls someone to do that which is sinful. God knows exactly what is good for us and what is not. Sin is never good for us regardless of who we are. We are all human beings created by God. We ought to trust Him.

Would you assist or support your best friend in doing heroin? After all, it’s her life and you shouldn’t judge.
Would you assist or support someone in stealing from a bank? After all, it’s their life and you shouldn’t judge.

Can you see the faulty logic in saying “don’t judge” when someone is doing something wrong? I’m not advocating that we get in people’s faces and tell them flat out that they are wrong. But to withold the truth from someone is not love. It must be proclaimed. Every Christian is called by Jesus to do so.

God bless
 
The Church indeed has issued a ruling on the matter:

VATICAN-TRANSSEXUALS

Jan-14-2003 (710 words) xxxi

Vatican says ‘sex-change’ operation

does not change person’s gender

By John Norton Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – After years of study, the Vatican’s doctrinal
congregation has sent church leaders a confidential document
concluding that “sex-change” procedures do not change a person’s
gender in the eyes of the church.

Consequently, the document instructs bishops never to alter the sex
listed in parish baptismal records and says Catholics who have
undergone “sex-change” procedures are not eligible to marry, be
ordained to the priesthood or enter religious life, according to a
source familiar with the text.

The document was completed in 2000 and sent “sub secretum” (under
secrecy) to the papal representatives in each country to provide
guidance on a case-by-case basis to bishops. But when it became clear
that many bishops were still unaware of its existence, in 2002 the
congregation sent it to the presidents of bishops’ conferences as
well.

“The key point is that the (transsexual) surgical operation is so
superficial and external that it does not change the personality. If
the person was male, he remains male. If she was female, she remains
female,” said the source.

Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., president of the U.S.
bishops’ conference, sent a brief letter to U.S. bishops in October
informing them of the Vatican document and highlighting its
instruction not to alter parish baptismal records, except to make a
notation in the margin when deemed necessary.

“The altered condition of a member of the faithful under civil law
does not change one’s canonical condition, which is male or female as
determined at the moment of birth,” Bishop Gregory wrote.

The Vatican text defines transsexualism as a psychic disorder of
those whose genetic makeup and physical characteristics are
unambiguously of one sex but who feel that they belong to the
opposite sex. In some cases, the urge is so strong that the person
undergoes a “sex-change” operation to acquire the opposite sex’s
external sexual organs. The new organs have no reproductive
function.

The document’s conclusions close one area of controversial
speculation that arose in Italy in the late 1980s when a priest
publicly announced he had undergone a “sex-change” operation.

Given church teaching that only males can be validly ordained
priests, the question posed in newspapers at the time was whether a
priest who undergoes a “sex-change” operation remains a priest –
the answer is “yes” – and whether a woman who undergoes the
procedure can be ordained – “no.”

A Vatican source said the text was prepared largely by Jesuit Father
Urbano Navarrete, now a retired canon law professor at Rome’s
Gregorian University.

In 1997, Father Navarrete wrote an article on transsexualism in an
authoritative canon law journal and has been consulted by the
doctrinal congregation on specific cases involving transsexualism and
hermaphroditism.

The priest, citing confidentiality rules, declined to speak on the
record to Catholic News Service for this story.

The Vatican document’s specific points include:

– An analysis of the moral licitness of “sex-change” operations. It
concludes that the procedure could be morally acceptable in certain
extreme cases if a medical probability exists that it will “cure” the
patient’s internal turmoil.

– But a source familiar with the document said recent medical evidence
suggested that in a majority of cases the procedure increases the
likelihood of depression and psychic disturbance.

– A provision giving religious superiors administrative authority to
expel a member of the community who has undergone the procedure. In
most cases of expulsion from religious life, the superior must
conduct a trial.

– A recommendation of psychiatric treatment and spiritual counseling
for transsexual priests. It suggests they can continue to exercise
their ministry privately if it does not cause scandal.

– A conclusion that those who undergo sex-change operations are
unsuitable candidates for priesthood and religious life because of
mental instability.

– A conclusion that people who have undergone a sex-change operation
cannot enter into a valid marriage, either because they would be
marrying someone of the same sex in the eyes of the church or because
their mental state casts doubt on their ability to make and uphold
their marriage vows.

– An affirmation of the validity of marriages in which one partner
later undergoes the procedure, unless a church tribunal determines
that a transsexual disposition predated the wedding ceremony.

END

01/14/2003 2:33 PM ET
Copyright (c) 2003

Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
 
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