Colorado joins 18 states in suing HHS over “attack” on gender-affirming care for youth
COLORADO (KRDO) – Colorado is joining 18 other states in suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., over a declaration that attempts to restrict access to gender-affirming healthcare for young people across the country.
The declaration, issued on Dec. 18, called certain forms of gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, "unsafe and ineffective" for youth experiencing gender dysphoria (the feeling of distress one can feel when their gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth).
It also warned that doctors, hospitals, and clinics that provide this care could be excluded from federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid if they continue offering the services.
Now, a coalition of attorneys general, including Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, is arguing that the declaration violates federal law by bypassing required procedures while "unlawfully intruding on states’ authority to regulate the practice of medicine."
"Gender-affirming care is legally protected in Colorado and upending it would harm transgender Coloradans who depend on it. Secretary Kennedy’s so-called declaration is a blatant abuse of power and threatens to bankrupt hospitals and providers," Weiser said in a release. "This action also seeks to replace decades of medical research and rewrite medical guidelines nationwide. The Trump administration is hellbent on turning back the clock, bullying hospitals and providers, and cutting families off from trusted, essential care. That is unlawful and cruel, and we are challenging it in court."
The attorneys general argue that HHS lacks the authority to impose a nationwide standard for medical care without properly following federal laws. States have independently regulated the practice of medicine for generations.
In Colorado, gender-affirming health care is legally protected, and state-regulated health insurance providers are prohibited from withholding coverage on the basis of gender identity, the state AG office said.
Weiser and the coalition are now asking a U.S. District Court to declare the HHS declaration as unlawful and block it from being enforced.
The lawsuit is led by the attorneys general of New York, Oregon, and Washington. Joining them is Weiser, along with the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania.
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