Colorado Children’s Hospital Stops Gender-Affirming Procedures for Adult Patients

A children’s hospital in Colorado has stopped offering transition-related surgeries to transgender patients over 18. Officials at the hospital confirmed that such procedures were never performed on minors.

According to a spokesperson for Children’s Hospital Colorado, after “unprecedented referrals,” the medical center “made the difficult decision to no longer provide gender-affirming surgical procedures for adult patients 18 years of age and older.”

The spokesperson toldThe Denver Post last week that threats to institutions providing gender-affirming care at children’s hospitals nationwide threatened their operations. However, the spokesperson later told NBC News that threats to other hospitals did not influence their decision, the TV network reports.

The spokesperson said that patients seeking surgical care are being referred to other facilities that still offer such procedures.

The TRUE Center for Gender Diversity at Children’s Hospital Colorado will continue to provide nonsurgical gender-affirming care to minors and patients recently over the age of 18. Among the services still offered by this center are hormone therapy, gender counseling, and nutrition counseling.

Advocates for LGBTQ+ rights in the state expressed concern over the hospital’s decision.

“The precedent that they’re setting is dangerous,” OutBoulder advocate Ruby Lopez told Denver’s NBC affiliate KUSA. “My fear is that other hospitals are also going to follow suit.”

Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, one of three queer governors in the country, recently signed a law protecting patients from criminal prosecution who receive gender-affirming treatments. The provision of medical care to transgender people is not restricted in Colorado.

There are 21 states that restrict gender-affirming care for minors, but the Arkansas law has been permanently blocked, and laws in four other states have been temporarily blocked by the federal courts. Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri have also proposed legislation restricting transgender adults’ access to health care.