Colorado Supreme Court Orders Children’s Hospital to Resume Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

Overview

• The state’s high court, which ruled Monday, told a Denver judge to issue a preliminary injunction that restarts prescriptions such as puberty blockers and hormones for transgender patients under 18.
• In a 5–2 decision, the majority found likely discrimination because the hospital kept providing the same medications to cisgender youth when doctors deemed them appropriate.
• Justice Brian Boatright’s dissent warned of severe federal fallout, including possible loss of Medicaid participation, a risk that would imperil a hospital where about half of patients use that coverage.
• Children’s has pointed to federal pressure, including a DOJ subpoena that a magistrate judge has recommended quashing and an HHS declaration later limited by a federal court in Oregon, as grounds for its pause.
• Families who sued said the halt caused immediate physical and mental harm to their children, and services are set to resume while the lawsuit and the separate federal investigations continue.