Missouri to place limits on access to gender-affirming care for adults

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Missouri gender-affirming care overview: 

• Who: Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued an emergency rule on gender-affirming care in the state. 
• Why: Bailey’s rule requires 18 months of psychiatric or psychological assessment over at least 15 hour-long sessions before gender-affirming care is received.
• Where: The Missouri gender-affirming care rule applies throughout the state from April 27 to Feb. 6, 2024.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued an emergency rule that will restrict gender-affirming care throughout the state. The rule is set to go into effect April 27 and remain in place until Feb. 6, 2024.

While Bailey’s announcement of the rule stated that it was aimed at care for minors, the rules apply to all Missouri residents. The rule includes a stipulation that a person must receive psychological or psychiatric assessment for at least 15 hour-long sessions over 18 months before a procedure can occur.

Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Missouri promised legal action against the rule in a joint statement on the Missouri gender-affirming care announcement. 

“The Attorney General’s so-called emergency rule is based on distorted, misleading, and debunked claims and ignores the overwhelming body of scientific and medical evidence supporting this care as well as the medical experts and doctors who work with transgender people every day,” the statement said. “This rule is a shocking attempt to exploit Missouri’s consumer protection laws in order to play politics with life-saving medical care. Transgender people in Missouri deserve the support and care necessary to give them the same chance to thrive as their peers.”

St. Louis clinic used experimental drugs, AG said in Missouri gender-affirming care announcement

Bailey said a reason for the Missouri gender-affirming care rule was his office’s investigation into a St. Louis pediatric transgender center that was accused of acting without parental consent and using experimental drugs on children, distributing puberty blockers and hormones without individualized assessment.

“My office has uncovered a clandestine network of clinics across the state who are harming children by ignoring the science,” Bailey said. “When even progressive countries like Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the United Kingdom have all sharply curtailed these procedures, it’s time for the United States to course correct.”

A lawsuit last year from pediatricians accused the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of requiring doctors, despite potential religious objections, to offer gender transition health care. A federal judge in Texas last week ruled that the U.S. government could not mandate insurers provide coverage for a large number of preventive treatments, including cancer and diabetes screenings.

How involved do you believe states should be in gender-affirming care? Let us know in the comments.

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