Colorado Supreme Court Orders Children's Hospital to Resume Trans Youth Care in 5-2 Ruling
Updated
Updated · The Colorado Sun · May 18
Colorado Supreme Court Orders Children's Hospital to Resume Trans Youth Care in 5-2 Ruling
16 articles · Updated · The Colorado Sun · May 18
A 5-2 Colorado Supreme Court ruling said Children’s Hospital Colorado must resume prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy to transgender youth, sending the case back for a lower-court injunction.
Justice William Hood wrote the hospital likely violated state antidiscrimination law because it kept providing the same medications to cisgender children when medically appropriate while halting them for trans patients.
The majority called federal threats against the hospital speculative for now and said Children’s could seek court relief if Washington later tried to punish it or cut off Medicaid funding.
Children’s said it is reviewing the decision and has not said whether it will restart care before an injunction issues; the dissent argued the suspension was driven by threats to the hospital’s survival, not gender identity.
The fight follows 15 months of reversals after Trump-era federal pressure, a DOJ investigation and an HHS declaration, while an Oregon federal judge has separately blocked efforts to punish hospitals for providing such care.
How can a hospital survive when state anti-discrimination law and federal policy are in direct conflict?
A court nullified the key federal declaration, so why do severe threats to hospitals providing this care persist?
Colorado Supreme Court Orders Immediate Restoration of Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth: Landmark 5-2 Ruling Sets Statewide Precedent
Overview
On May 18, 2026, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that Children's Hospital Colorado must immediately resume gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The Court found that the hospital's earlier suspension of these services was discriminatory, as it continued to provide similar treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy to cisgender children for other conditions, but denied them to transgender youth. This decision, based on the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, sets a strong precedent for equitable healthcare access for transgender youth in Colorado, ensuring hospitals cannot selectively refuse care based on gender identity.