Christian Medical and Dental Associations and Button Family Practice filed a lawsuit in Colorado federal court on September 9 challenging a state law that requires healthcare providers to offer gender transition services, arguing it violates their religious beliefs and medical judgment.
- The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado by the CMDA and Button Family Practice of Cañon City.
- Plaintiffs claim Colorado's Anti-Discrimination Act violates their religious freedom and medical oath to do no harm.
- The suit seeks an exemption from publishing statements about denying services based on gender identity.
- Plaintiffs argue no reliable scientific evidence supports gender transition procedures, citing U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- This follows a May 2026 Colorado Supreme Court ruling ordering Children's Hospital Colorado to resume gender affirming care.
A group of dentists and doctors filed a U.S. lawsuit on September 9 challenging a law in Colorado that forces them to provide gender-transition care that they say clashes with their religious and ethical beliefs.
In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the Christian Medical and Dental Associations (CMDA) and Button Family Practice of Cañon City, CO, claim that Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act is unconstitutional because it makes them perform risky, unproven care against their faith, medical judgment, and their oath to do no harm, according to the suit.
“Colorado is not allowed to conscript those who have sworn to do no harm into harming the very children and adults entrusted to their care,” according to the lawsuit.
The CMDA, which has members practicing dentistry and medicine in every state, and the practice are seeking an exemption from some parts of the Colorado law. Specifically, they want an exemption from the section that prevents businesses from publishing statements explaining they will deny service based on a protected trait, including gender identity, according to the lawsuit.
In the suit, the plaintiffs explain that scientific and medical reviews, as well as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, have determined that there is no reliable evidence that supports gender transition procedures.
This lawsuit comes following a May 2026 decision by the Colorado Supreme Court ordering Children’s Hospital Colorado to return to providing gender transition care. The court ruled that the hospital violated the state's antidiscrimination law by suspending gender-affirming care for children.
Healthcare professionals who violate the state antidiscrimination law face court-ordered compliance, monetary damages, staff re-education training, and loss of funding.
By filing this lawsuit, “CMDA members and the Button Family Practice are just exercising sound medical judgment by declining to offer interventions with little known upside and lifelong, tragic, and irreversible downsides,” according to the lawsuit.
