By Laureen Boll | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
If you’re at all interested in ensuring that the future of Colorado’s healthcare system is enshrined in the tenets of the Hippocratic Oath — including practicing with integrity and competence — and that parental authority is respected in the realm of health care for children, then you’ll want to pay attention to several bills that will be in front of the Colorado legislature this week.
Colorado has positioned itself as a leader in protecting access to gender-affirming care (President Trump’s Executive Order refers to this ‘care’ as chemical and surgical mutilation) and abortion:
- Gender-Affirming Care: Since 2023, Colorado requires private health insurance plans to cover gender-affirming services as essential health benefits (C.R.S. § 10-16-103). The state expanded Medicaid (Health First Colorado) coverage for these services in 2017 and 2023, aligning with WPATH standards. Laws like Senate Bill 23-188 (2023) shield providers and patients from out-of-state prosecution, making Colorado a “safe haven” for transgender care.
- Abortion: Senate Bill 23-189 (2023) mandates large employer insurance plans to cover abortion costs without deductibles (effective 2025), with a religious exemption for employers, not providers. SB 23-188 also protects abortion access, and Colorado has no gestational limits on abortion, codified after Roe v. Wade’s overturn in 2022.
Physicians in Colorado can decline non-emergency services like gender-affirming care or abortion for religious or moral reasons under certain conditions, rooted in federal and state protections, but this right is not absolute. Unlike Texas and Florida, Colorado lacks a statute explicitly granting physicians a broad right to refuse care based on conscience. C.R.S. § 25-6-103 allows pharmacists to refuse contraception for religious reasons, but no parallel exists for physicians and abortions or gender care. Thus, Colorado House Rep. Stephanie Luck is bringing forward HB25-1255 (“Health Care Provider Right to Exercise Conscience”) on Tuesday, March 4, that would provide immunity from civil, criminal, or administrative liability for a health care provider who exercises his or her right of conscience. This is a common-sense bill that protects the First Amendment rights of medical providers from the force of the state.
Gender-affirming care (GAC) for minors is now banned in 26 states due to a mix of scientific skepticism, ideological resistance, and good-old common sense. The Cass Review (April 2024), a 388-page independent investigation commissioned by the UK’s National Health Service, has been a linchpin for GAC critics. The Cass Review found:
- No Evidence for Suicide Reduction. “There is no evidence that gender-affirmative treatments reduce the risk of suicide” (p. 186). This undercuts claims that GAC is “life-saving,” a narrative previously backed by weak studies like Tordoff et al. (2022), which Cass rated as low-quality due to short follow-ups and confounders (p. 172).
- Poor Evidence Base. Evidence for puberty blockers and hormones relieving gender dysphoria is “inadequate” (p. 171), with 52 of 53 studies deemed low to moderate quality. Risks like infertility, bone density loss, and brain development concerns lack long-term data (p. 174).
- Revelation. States like Florida and Texas cited Cass to argue GAC is experimental, not medically necessary. Legislators saw that GAC is a house of cards, sold as salvation with no proof, and echoed Cass’s call for “extreme caution” (p. 25).
Gender-affirming care lacks proof of reducing suicide or distress, the risk of regret is unknown (5-10% per recent studies), and irreversible harm such as sterility and sexual dysfunction is common. Unfortunately, Colorado is among the worst for harming children in the name of ‘Gender Affirming Care.’ According to StopTheHarm, Colorado ranks very high in the number of per-capita child sex changes and puberty blockers. Colorado exceeds California by two-to-four times and outperforms states like New York, Washington, and Ohio variably. Colorado’s progressive regulations and infrastructure drive these rates, placing it among the top tier of states facilitating such services. Colorado House Rep. Brandi Bradley is seeking to stop this harm with HB25-1253 (“Youth Health Protection Act”), which would prohibit any medical procedure or treatment that furthers a minor’s desire to present or appear in a manner that is inconsistent with the minor’s sex.
Colorado House Rep. Scott Bottoms is bringing forward HB25-1251 (“Parental Consent to Treatment of a Minor”) in order to ensure that medical or mental health services are not provided to a minor without written or verbal consent from the minor’s parent. It’s hard to believe that this bill is needed in Colorado, but alas, it is.
Colorado has progressively lowered the age at which minors can consent to certain healthcare services without parental involvement, reflecting a policy focus on access over parental oversight.
- Mental Health Services. Under HB 19-1120 (effective May 16, 2019, codified at C.R.S. § 12-245-202.5), minors aged 12 and older can seek outpatient psychotherapy without parental consent if a licensed mental health professional deems it clinically necessary and the minor knowingly consents. For inpatient mental health care, the age of consent remains 15 (C.R.S. § 27-65-103). Providers can notify parents only with the minor’s permission unless the minor poses an imminent threat (e.g., suicide risk).
- Medical Care Exceptions. Colorado law allows minors to consent to specific treatments without parents, including reproductive health (e.g., contraception, abortion under C.R.S. § 25-6-402), STD testing/treatment (C.R.S. § 25-4-402), and substance abuse care (C.R.S. § 27-81-103). Emancipated minors (15+, living independently) can consent to all medical care (C.R.S. § 13-22-103).
- Gender-Affirming Care and Abortion. As a “safe haven” state (SB 23-188, 2023), Colorado protects access to gender-affirming care and abortion, with no explicit parental consent mandate for minors beyond general medical consent laws. Insurance coverage mandates (SB 23-189) reinforce this access, though religious employer exemptions exist.
Colorado’s current laws prioritize access, assuming minors can navigate complex care responsibly — a stance that is naive and ideologically motivated. HB25-1251 flips this narrative, correctly asserting that parents are the safeguard for children.
So who is opposed to these bills? Interestingly the same lobbyists oppose all three bills:
- COLOR Action Fund
- One Colorado
- Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains
- Rocky Mountain Equality
- The Women’s Lobby of CO
These activist organizations are focused on social justice issues for women and the LGBTQ community, and these bills directly threaten their operational priorities, financial interests and political influence. These groups aren’t shy about their stakes; it’s about protecting their turf in a state they’ve shaped into a progressive stronghold.
What Can You Do?
Email committee members
HB25-1255 (“Health Care Provider Right to Exercise Conscience”) will be heard by the Judiciary committee on Tuesday, March 4. You can send an email to the committee at [email protected]
Both HB25-1253 (“Youth Health Protection Act”) and HB25-1251 (“Parental Consent to Treatment of a Minor”) will be heard by the Health and Human Services committee on Wednesday, March 5. You can send an email to the committee at [email protected]
Testify
Click here to sign-up to testify either in-person or remotely.
Listen to the hearings
Open the links to bills above and click “Committee Audio”. And get your popcorn ready!