After the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that healthcare providers must offer gender-transition procedures, a group of Christian physicians and a Cañon City clinic have filed suit against Colorado officials to block enforcement.
In Boe v. Children’s Hospital Colorado, the court held that a provider discriminates under the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) by declining to prescribe puberty blockers and hormone therapy for gender transitions while prescribing the same drugs for other purposes. The plaintiffs, Christian physicians and Button Family Practice, already treat transgender patients and prescribe these hormones for unrelated conditions, but decline on religious and medical grounds to prescribe them to facilitate a transition. CADA also requires providers to refer to patients using pronouns and names inconsistent with their biological sex, and bars them from publicly explaining why they decline.
Violations carry damages, injunctions, mandated staff retraining, and termination from Colorado Medicaid, which funds more than half of Button Family Practice’s revenue.
The plaintiffs argue CADA violates the First Amendment’s protections for free exercise and free speech and the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantees of due process and equal protection. The case will decide whether Colorado can force healthcare providers to override their religious and medical judgment to keep practicing.
Read Complaint Here: Case No. 1:26-cv-04236