Colorado voters are deciding right now whether Proposition 135 becomes law, and some have already received mail-in ballots. The measure would restrict gender-affirming care for patients under 18 and stop both state funds and private insurance from paying for that care. Colorado's leading doctors' groups are asking voters to reject it.

The Colorado Medical Society, the largest physicians' group in the state, opposes the measure because it lets the government override a doctor's medical judgment. Its president, Sean Pauzauskie, explained that the group's members have many different political views but agree on a basic idea: "medical decisions belong in the exam room."

The Colorado Academy of Family Physicians warns the measure reaches much further than its supporters suggest. "It is a broad, one-size-fits-all ban that goes far beyond what voters think they're being asked to approve," according to the Colorado Academy of Family Physicians. The group says the wording could block needed treatment for young people who are not transgender, including teenagers being treated for testicular cancer, cervical cancer, endometriosis or intersex conditions. It has told its members to vote no.

Every child's health situation is different. Parents and the doctors who actually examine a patient are the ones who should weigh the risks and benefits of treatment, not a single statewide rule written for every case. When the state's own physicians say a law could get in the way of treating a teenager with cancer, voters deserve to hear that before they fill out their ballots.

Sign the petition to urge Colorado voters to vote no on Prop. 135 and keep medical decisions with families and doctors, while there is still time before Election Day.