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Court orders hospital to resume gender-affirming…
LGBTQ Legal Issues
Court orders hospital to resume gender-affirming care for transgender kids
May 19, 2026, 11:17 am CDT
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Children’s Hospital Colorado must resume offering gender-affirming care to transgender kids, after the hospital received pressure from the federal government to suspend services. (Image from Shutterstock)
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Children’s Hospital Colorado must resume offering gender-affirming care to transgender kids, after the hospital received pressure from the federal government to suspend services.
Denying patients care because of their gender identity violates the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, said Colorado Justice William W. Hood III in the 5-2 decision.
In December 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, issued a declaration that the department may exclude entities from federal healthcare programs if they provide gender-affirming care to minors. The hospital’s administrators, worried about the loss of Medicaid and privately insured patients, announced Jan. 5 that it would no longer treat gender dysphoria with puberty blockers and hormone therapy for patients younger than age 19.
Four transgender minors and their parents sued the hospital under the state’s antidiscrimination act, noting that cisgender patients would still have access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
Courthouse News Service and Bloomberg Law have coverage.
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