A proposed bill in Colorado is stirring controversy as it threatens to criminalize the accurate recording of biological sex on death certificates for individuals who identified as transgender.
The legislation, which is set to be reviewed by the Colorado House on February 25, has sparked concerns among medical professionals who argue that it seeks to erase biological reality from vital state-issued documents.
According to the Daily Caller, Dr. Travis Morrell, a Colorado physician and senior fellow with the conservative-leaning medical group Do No Harm, expressed his dismay over the proposed legislation. "Its dangerous and absolutely nuts to threaten doctors with a misdemeanor if they wont forge a death certificate. But its what Id expect in Colorado," Morrell said.
He emphasized the importance of honest data recording, stating, "The first thing you learn in middle school science is to write in your lab book with a pen; honest data recording is science 101."
Currently, Colorado law permits "qualified individuals" such as coroners, medical examiners, and forensic pathologists to issue death certificates. The proposed bill, championed by Democratic Colorado state Reps. Karen McCormick and Kyle Brown, along with Democratic Colorado state Sen. Mike Weissman, seeks to mandate that these documents "reflect the decedents gender identity." The legislators have yet to respond to requests for comment on the matter.
The bill stipulates that any individual who knowingly and willfully violates these requirements could face a class 2 misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to 120 days in jail and fines of up to $750. The legislation also allows relatives to request a change to a death certificate by providing a "gender identity document" as proof of the deceased's transgender identity or by obtaining a court order.
This move aligns with the longstanding efforts of LGBT advocates to modify both birth and death certificates to reflect an individual's stated gender rather than their biological sex. The Human Rights Campaign, a left-leaning organization, argued in 2018 that "Unnecessary and invasive obstacles to updating ones birth certificate gender marker can prevent many transgender and gender non-conforming people from obtaining identification that accurately reflects who they are."
Several jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, have already enacted laws requiring death certificates to reflect "gender identity," although most do not stipulate criminal penalties for non-compliance. Colorado itself permits residents to alter the sex listed on their driver's licenses and birth certificates.
However, Dr. Morrell argues that the accuracy of information on death certificates should take precedence over appeasing left-wing groups. He pointed out that death certificates serve as crucial evidence in court and provide valuable data for medical and public health research. "Death certificates help doctors predict cancer survival or the deadliness of infectious or environmental agents," Morrell explained, adding that "The CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and scientists around the world use death certificate data."
Morrell also cited a 2017 CDC-funded study that revealed how inaccuracies in Vermont's death certificates were skewing national mortality figures, underscoring the importance of prioritizing accuracy over ideology. He expressed his concern about the ongoing attacks on medical integrity, noting that "therapists arent allowed to affirm a dysphoric childs actual sex," as per a 2019 bill signed into law by Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
In contrast to Colorado's move, President Donald Trump issued an order in January directing federal agencies to replace the concept of "gender identity" with "sex" as an inherent physical trait. The order also mandates that federally-issued identification documents, such as passports and visas, "accurately reflect the holders sex."
Trump's executive order criticized the increasing trend of ideologues denying the biological reality of sex, stating, "Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from womens domestic abuse shelters to womens workplace showers. This is wrong."
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