A Colorado children’s hospital has stopped offering transition-related surgeries for transgender patients ages 18 and older. a hospital spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. The hospital said it never provided such surgeries for minors.
Rachael Fowler, a spokeswoman for Children’s Hospital Colorado, said in a statement to NBC News that due to “unprecedented referrals,” the hospital “has made the difficult decision to stop providing gender-affirming surgical procedures for adult patients 18 and under.” age and older.”
Fowler added that the hospital is working with patients to refer them to other facilities that are still providing these surgeries. He added that “threats to children’s hospitals across the country did not prompt our decision.”
Children’s Hospital Colorado, through its TRUE Center for Gender Diversity, will continue to provide non-surgical gender affirming care for both minors and patients who have recently turned 18 years of age. This care includes hormone therapy, gender counseling and nutrition services, according to the center’s website.
LGBTQ advocates in the state expressed concern about the hospital’s decision.
“The precedent they are setting is dangerous,” Ruby Lopez, OutBoulder Advocate, he told KUSA-TV, an NBC affiliate in Denver. “My fear is that other hospitals will also do the same.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat and one of three openly LGBTQ governors in the United States, signed a bill in April that protects patients seeking gender-affirming treatments from criminal prosecution, including those who travel to Colorado from neighboring states for care. Colorado has not passed any laws restricting healthcare for transgender people.
At least 21 states have passed laws restricting gender affirming care for minors, although a federal judge permanently blocked the Arkansas law and laws in four other states have been temporarily blocked. Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri have also proposed legislation to limit care for transgender adults, according to the Human Rights Campaignthe nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group.
