A group of Christian doctors and dentists has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Colorado law they say requires them to provide gender‑transition services that conflict with their religious and ethical beliefs.

The lawsuit, filed by the Christian Medical and Dental Associations and Button Family Practice of Cañon City, alleges that certain portions of Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act are unconstitutional, as it forces doctors to perform “dangerous, unproven” gender transition procedures “against their medical judgment, their oath to do no harm, and their faith.”

The plaintiffs are seeking an exemption from portions of the state law that bar businesses from publishing statements indicating they will deny service based on a protected trait, such as gender identity; require businesses to use an individual’s chosen name and pronouns; and require medical facilities that perform gender‑related procedures like mastectomies and hysterectomies to provide those services to all patients, whether for medical reasons or to align with a patient’s gender choices.

“The state is not allowed to conscript doctors to harm the very children and adults entrusted to their care,” said Bryan Neihart, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal organization that is representing the plaintiffs. “The First Amendment trumps Colorado’s mandate to embrace the lie of gender ideology.”

The suit comes on the heels of a recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling ordering Children’s Hospital Colorado to resume providing gender transition services to patients. In that ruling, issued last spring, the court found that Children’s Hospital had violated the state’s discrimination law by providing certain treatments like hormone therapy and breast reductions to cisgender patients but denying them to transgender patients.

“This ruling reaffirms that Colorado’s civil rights laws apply fully and equally to transgender youth and that hospitals cannot selectively refuse treatment because of political pressure or ideology,” said John M. McHugh, an attorney for the plaintiffs in the case.

“What we certainly hope is that this decision has a ripple effect,” added Paula Greisen, another attorney representing the plaintiffs. “There’s so many children’s hospitals across the country that have stopped providing care because they’re under attack by the federal administration, and we hope that this will give them some comfort in knowing that the states will continue to protect these children.”

Alliance Defending Freedom argued that if the state can use laws to require hospitals to provide gender transition services, it can do the same to individual providers.

Reporter Michael Karlik contributed to this story.