Colorado Bill Threatens Parents Into ‘Affirming’ Child’s ‘Gender’ Identity

A Colorado bill introduced last week would intimidate parents into “affirming” their child’s gender identity, setting the stage for future harmful medical interventions.

The bill states that courts “shall consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish material related to an individual’s gender-affirming health-care services as types of coercive control” when making child custody decisions.

“Coercive control” is defined as “a pattern of threatening, humiliating, or intimidating actions, including assaults or other abuse, that is used to harm, punish, or frighten an individual.”

In other words, the law effectively bullies parents into “affirming” their child’s self-identified gender. It does this by equating the failure of a parent to affirm their child’s gender identity with abuse, empowering courts to consider such factors in custody decisions.

Parents who fail to “affirm” are effectively at risk of losing their children.

The natural conclusion of this “affirmation” approach is to place children onto the transgender medicalization pathway, in which they undergo invasive medical interventions to alter their body in accordance with their self-identified “gender.”

Protecting children from their parents thoughtlessly and automatically affirming their gender dysphoria is an important first step to prevent further harmful medicalization.

The Colorado bill, however, would instead intimidate parents into effectively encouraging this medicalization process through affirming the child’s self-identified gender.

“Social transition increases the risk of medical harm,” said Do No Harm Senior Fellow Dr. Travis Morrell, a practicing physician in Colorado.

“Social transition, which is what this bill basically requires of parents – using certain names and pronouns – increases medicalization and surgery, which can cause a lifetime of regret,” Morrell added.

In addition to this legislation, another bill introduced last week would prohibit health insurance benefit plans from denying coverage for sex change interventions deemed to be “medically necessary” by a healthcare provider. The bill would also exempt prescriptions for testosterone from the state’s prescription drug use tracking program.

Child sex change interventions provide no proven long-term benefits; instead, they impose lifelong consequences on children who lack the capacity to meaningfully understand or consent – including permanent sterilization, lifetime dependence on pharmaceuticals, bone density loss, and more.

The lack of evidence supporting child sex changes has been demonstrated by the most authoritative reviews of the evidence on this issue.

The inevitable consequence of this legislation is the further endangerment of children.