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https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/colorado-supreme-court-may-force

>On Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court heard oral arguments over whether Children's Hospital Colorado can be forced to resume gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The hospital was one of roughly 40 across the country that capitulated to Trump administration threats and shuttered their trans youth care programs. However, the hospital's position has grown increasingly untenable, as hospitals in states like Minnesota and California have begun reversing course and as the Trump administration has suffered mounting losses in federal courts—including an Oregon ruling that vacated the very declaration the hospital cited as justification for halting care. Hearing arguments on Tuesday, several justices appeared skeptical of the hospital's rationale, questioning whether Colorado's civil rights protections for transgender people—among the strongest in the nation—can simply be overridden by federal threats that do not constitute law.

>In December, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a declaration that gender-affirming care for transgender youth was "neither safe nor effective," warning that hospitals providing such care could be excluded from Medicare and Medicaid—a virtual death sentence for any hospital system. Crucially, Kennedy's declaration was illegal: Section 1801 of the Social Security Act explicitly states that "nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize any Federal officer or employee to exercise any supervision or control over the practice of medicine." Roughly 40 hospitals across the country capitulated, including Children's Hospital Colorado, which shuttered its trans youth care program in January. It is critical to note that many other hospitals continued to offer care throughout this period—and none had their Medicaid funding revoked, a fact that would prove significant in Tuesday's proceedings.