UNITED STATES NEWS

Missouri judge says ban on gender-affirming health care for minors can take effect on Monday

Aug 25, 2023, 1:20 PM | Updated: 1:38 pm

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge ruled Friday that a ban on gender-affirming health care for minors can take effect on Monday, as scheduled.

The ruling by St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer means that beginning next week, health care providers are prohibited from providing gender-affirming surgeries to children. Minors who began puberty blockers or hormones before Monday will be allowed to continue on those medications, but other minors won’t have access to those drugs.

Some adults will also lose access to gender-affirming care. Medicaid no longer will cover treatments for adults, and the state will not provide those surgeries to prisoners.

The ACLU of Missouri, Lambda Legal, and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner last month sued to overturn the law on behalf of doctors, LGBTQ+ organizations, and three families of transgender minors, arguing that it is discriminatory. They asked that the law be temporarily blocked as the court challenge against it plays out.

Ohmer wrote that the plaintiffs’ arguments were “unpersuasive and not likely to succeed.”

“The science and medical evidence is conflicting and unclear. Accordingly, the evidence raises more questions than answers,” Ohmer wrote in his ruling. “As a result, it has not clearly been shown with sufficient possibility of success on the merits to justify the grant of a preliminary injunction.”

One plaintiff, a 10-year-old transgender boy, has not yet started puberty and consequently has not yet started taking puberty blockers. His family is worried he will begin puberty after the law takes effect, meaning he will not be grandfathered in and will not have access to puberty blockers for the next four years until the law sunsets.

The law expires in August 2027.

Proponents of the law argued gender-affirming medical treatments are unsafe and untested.

Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office wrote in a court brief that blocking the law “would open the gate to interventions that a growing international consensus has said may be extraordinarily damaging.”

The office cited restrictions on gender-affirming treatments for minors in countries including England and Norway, although those nations have not enacted outright bans.

An Associated Press email requesting comment from the Attorney General’s Office was not immediately returned Friday.

“We will work with patients to get the care they need in Missouri, or, in Illinois, where gender-affirming care is protected under state law,” Yamelsie Rodríguez, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, said in a Friday statement.

Every major medical organization in the U.S., including the American Medical Association, has opposed bans on gender-affirming care for minors and supported the medical care for youth when administered appropriately. Lawsuits have been filed in several states where bans have been enacted this year.

The Food and Drug Administration approved puberty blockers 30 years ago to treat children with precocious puberty — a condition that causes sexual development to begin much earlier than usual. Sex hormones — synthetic forms of estrogen and testosterone — were approved decades ago to treat hormone disorders and for birth control.

The FDA has not approved the medications specifically to treat gender-questioning youth. But they have been used for many years for that purpose “off label,” a common and accepted practice for many medical conditions. Doctors who treat trans patients say those decades of use are proof the treatments are not experimental.

Physicians who violate the law face having their licenses revoked and being sued by patients. The law makes it easier for former patients to sue, giving them 15 years to go to court and promising at least $500,000 in damages if they succeed.

United States News

Associated Press

Pennsylvania inmates sue over ‘tortuous conditions’ of solitary confinement

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Solitary confinement conditions in a Pennsylvania state prison are unconstitutional, worsening and creating mental illness in those held there, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of five inmates who say they have spent long periods in “torturous conditions.” With limited mental health resources, some of the plaintiffs inside […]

15 minutes ago

Associated Press

The Supreme Court seems likely to side with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed likely to preserve the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against a conservative-led challenge. Even some conservative justices sounded skeptical of arguments that the agency, created after the 2008 financial crisis to regulate mortgages, car loans and other consumer finance, violates the Constitution in the […]

48 minutes ago

Associated Press

Colorado high court to hear case against Christian baker who refused to make LGBTQ-themed cake

DENVER (AP) — On the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court victory this summer for a graphic artist who didn’t want to design wedding websites for same-sex couples, Colorado’s highest court said Tuesday it will now hear the case of a Christian baker who refused to make a cake celebrating a gender transition. The announcement […]

59 minutes ago

FILE - Republican presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Iowa Fa...

Associated Press

Former VP Pence to talk national security and foreign policy at AP-Georgetown University forum

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President and GOP candidate Mike Pence will take questions on national security and foreign policy Tuesday afternoon at Washington’s Georgetown University. The appearance will be the first in a series of conversations with 2024 Republican presidential candidates on the topic co-hosted by The Associated Press and Georgetown’s Institute of Politics […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Atlanta will pay $3.75M to family of Nebraska man who died after being handcuffed and held face down

ATLANTA (AP) — The city of Atlanta will pay $3.75 million to the family of a Nebraska man who died after police handcuffed him face down. The City Council approved the settlement Monday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, after the Fulton County medical examiner determined that Ricardo Dorado Jr.’s death on Aug. 21, 2022 was a […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

2 Army soldiers killed, 12 injured in crash of military transport vehicle in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed and 12 others injured after a military transport vehicle flipped on a dirt road leading to a training area in Alaska, officials said. The single-vehicle accident happened Monday as the soldiers headed to the Yukon Training Area near Salcha, or about 30 miles (48 kilometers) […]

2 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

DAY & NIGHT AIR CONDITIONING, HEATING AND PLUMBING

Importance of AC maintenance after Arizona’s excruciating heat wave

An air conditioning unit in Phoenix is vital to living a comfortable life inside, away from triple-digit heat.

...

Ignite Digital

How to unlock the power of digital marketing for Phoenix businesses

All businesses around the Valley hopes to maximize their ROI with current customers and secure a greater market share in the digital sphere.

...

Ability360

At Ability360, every day is Independence Day

With 100 different programs and services, more than 1,500 non-medically based home care staff, a world-renowned Sports & Fitness Center and over 15,000 people with disabilities served annually, across all ages and demographics, Ability360 is a nationwide leader in the disability community.

Missouri judge says ban on gender-affirming health care for minors can take effect on Monday