Missouri judge upholds gender-affirming care ban as advocacy organizations vow to appeal
Jefferson City, Missouri - A Missouri judge on Monday upheld the state's gender-affirming care ban for transgender youth on debunked claims of lack of scientific consensus.
"This Court finds an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment," Wright County Circuit Judge R. Craig Carter wrote in a 74-page ruling.
"The evidence at trial showed severe disagreement as to whether adolescent gender dysphoria drug and surgical treatment was ethical all, and if so, what amount of treatment was ethically allowable."
Top medical organizations have made clear that gender-affirming health care may be medically necessary and can save lives.
Nevertheless, lawmakers in Missouri and other Republican-led states have sought to severely restrict transgender health care access in recent years.
Missouri's SB 49, dubbed the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, prohibits health care professionals from providing hormone treatments, puberty blockers, and gender-affirming surgeries to most transgender people under the age of 18. The law also bars Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming medical care for transgender people of any age.
Transgender rights advocates have warned that discriminatory laws and policies such as gender-affirming care bans are worsening the ongoing epidemic of violence targeting trans and nonbinary individuals.
LGBTQ+ rights organizations to appeal Missouri ruling
Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri announced they plan to appeal the ruling.
"Despite heartfelt testimony from parents of transgender youth, transgender adults who’ve benefited from this care at various stages of life, a transgender minor, and some of Missouri’s most dedicated health care providers, the state has prioritized politics over the well-being of its people," the organizations said in a joint statement.
"This ruling sends a chilling message that, for some, compassion and equal access to health care are still out of reach."
The decision came days before the US Supreme Court is due on December 4 to hear oral arguments in the US v. Skrmetti case challenging Tennessee's gender-affirming care ban for trans youth.
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