Lawsuit filed to stop Missouri law prohibiting gender transitions for minors

A lawsuit to block a new Missouri law preventing adolescents from receiving prescribed drugs or undergoing surgeries for gender transition was filed in Cole County Circuit Court.

Senate Bill 49, signed into law by Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson in June, prevents any health care provider from performing gender transition surgeries on any minor. It placed a four-year moratorium on health care providers prescribing or administering cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to a minor for a gender transition. The ban starts on Aug. 28 and ends on Aug. 28, 2027, allowing minors currently under treatment to continue receiving care.

The bill also prevents Missouri’s Medicaid program from paying for gender transition surgeries and medications. It also prevents those in prison, jails and correctional centers from receiving the surgeries or medication.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, the fourth-largest law firm in Missouri, joined Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri in filing the suit on Tuesday. The action was filed on behalf of three families of transgender young people, medical providers, PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and the American Association of Physicians for Human Rights.

The 50-page petition for injunctive and declaratory relief argues the new law violates the “Equal Protection Clause” of the Missouri Constitution, which protects individuals and groups from discrimination by the government. The petition also argues the new law violates the Missouri Constitution’s provision for “all persons (to) have a natural right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

“The Missouri Constitution thus protects the fundamental right to autonomy in health care, as well as the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children,” the suit said.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, issued a statement challenging the plaintiff’s argument regarding the safety of treatments.

“The plaintiffs claim gender transition procedures are evidence-based; however, I have seen no evidence to suggest this to be true,” Moon said. “Simply repeating a lie about the safety and effectiveness of a procedure does not change that fact that these procedures cause irreparable harm to children.”

Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed an emergency rule in April to restrict gender-transitioning treatments for all people, but rescinded it when the legislature passed Senate Bill 49. Parson signed the bill in private without any ceremony or media coverage.

"Extreme politicians in Missouri, like the attorney general, have made known their desire to ban gender-affirming care throughout the state,” Gillian Wilcox, deputy director of litigation for the ACLU of Missouri, said in a statement. “This legislation targets very specific, vulnerable populations – young people, those who access health care through Medicaid, and incarcerated individuals – to replace private medical decisions with the will of politicians in Jefferson City."

Missouri is one of approximately 20 states to pass legislation prohibiting some form of gender transitioning. U.S. District Court judges have halted legislation regarding gender transition in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, according to several media outlets. Lawsuits in Montana and Georgia are reportedly pending.