Judge upholds Missouri's ban on sex-change surgeries, puberty blockers for minors
A judge has upheld a Missouri law that prohibits cosmetic sex-change surgeries and the prescribing of puberty-blocking drugs for minors with gender dysphoria.
Wright County Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter ruled Monday to uphold the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, also known as Senate Bill 49, which was signed into law last year.
Carter wrote that state legislatures have a right to restrict medical practices that have a "lack of consensus" when it comes to "medical ethics," in this case, "adolescent gender dysphoria treatment."
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"The plaintiffs argue that the restricted interventions are necessary to treat the mental health condition of gender dysphoria," he wrote. "But as Plaintiffs' experts conceded, there is a substantial medical dispute about the causes and treatments of gender dysphoria."
"The Constitution does not permit a single judge to nullify the results of democratically enacted legislation where, as here, there is a medical dispute about the safety or efficacy of those interventions."
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey celebrated the court order, saying in a statement that the decision was a victory for efforts to ban "child mutilation."
"The Court has left Missouri's law banning child mutilation in place, a resounding victory for our children. We are the first state in the nation to successfully defend such a law at the trial court level," stated Bailey.
"I'm extremely proud of the thousands of hours my office put in to shine a light on the lack of evidence supporting these irreversible procedures. We will never stop fighting to ensure Missouri is the safest state in the nation for children."
The Missouri chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the LGBT organization Lambda Legal, which had helped to represent the plaintiffs, denounced the ruling and vowed to appeal the decision.
"However, the court's findings signal a troubling acceptance of discrimination, ignore an extensive trial record and the voices of transgender Missourians and those who care for them, and deny transgender adolescents and Medicaid beneficiaries from their right to access to evidence-based, effective, and often life-saving medical care," the progressive groups said in a joint statement.
"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."
In June 2023, Gov. Mike Parsons signed SB 49 into law. The measure stated that "a health care provider shall not knowingly perform a gender transition surgery on any individual under eighteen years of age" and "shall not knowingly prescribe or administer cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs for the purpose of a gender transition for any individual under eighteen years of age."
SB 49 allowed those who already had the procedures before the law took effect to continue doing so and included a cause of action for children harmed by the treatments to sue medical providers.
In September 2023, facing an investigation from Bailey's office, Washington University in St. Louis announced that it would no longer prescribe puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to any minors who were seeking gender transition.
