COLUMBIA, Missouri — A Texas judge on Friday ruled that a similar ban could go into effect in the state on Monday, while a Missouri judge ruled that the prevented a ban on transition-related medical care. This is the latest in a legal battle over the conservative initiative. Limit such care across the country.
In Texas, groups of families and doctors have argued that the state law violates the rights of parents and has devastating consequences for transgender children and teens who are denied treatment recommended by doctors and parents. filed a lawsuit to block the
The ruling came shortly before the September 1st ban start date. The Texas Attorney General’s office was expected to promptly file an appeal for the law to take effect.
A Missouri ruling by St. Louis Circuit Judge Stephen Ohmer means that starting next week, health care providers will be banned from performing transition-related surgeries on minors. Transgender youth who started taking puberty blockers and hormones before Monday will be allowed to continue taking those drugs, but they will not be available to other minors.
Some adults lose access to gender-affirming care. Medicaid no longer covers adult care, and states no longer offer these surgeries to people incarcerated.
Doctors who break the law can have their licenses revoked or be sued by their patients. The law makes it easier for former patients to sue, giving them a 15-year grace period and promising at least $500,000 in damages if they win.
Last month ACLU, Missouri, Lambda Legal, Brian Cave Leighton Peisner sued to overturn Missouri law On behalf of a doctor, an LGBTQ+ organization and three transgender underage families, they argued that this was discriminatory. They called for a temporary block of the law pending a court challenge to the law. The next public hearing in the case is scheduled for September 22.
But Omar wrote that the plaintiffs’ arguments were “unpersuasive and unlikely to succeed.”
“Scientific and medical evidence is contradictory and unclear. Therefore, the evidence raises more questions than it answers,” Ormer wrote in the judgment. “As a result, there is not a clear indication of a sufficient likelihood of success on the merits to justify granting a preliminary injunction.”
One of the plaintiffs is a 10-year-old transgender boy who has not yet started taking puberty blockers because he has not yet started puberty. His family fears he will hit puberty after the law takes effect. That means he won’t be his grandparent and won’t have access to puberty inhibitors for the next four years until the law expires.
This law expires in August 2027.
Proponents of the law argued that gender-affirming medicine was unsafe and untested.
Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office said in a court brief that blocking the law “has a growing international consensus and opens the door to intervention that could cause devastating consequences.” will be,’ he said.
The agency cited restrictions on gender-affirming treatment for minors in the following countries: England and Norwayhowever, these countries have not enacted outright bans.
The Associated Press sent an email to the attorney general’s office seeking comment, but did not immediately hear back on Friday.
All major medical organizations in the United States, including the American Medical Association, oppose bans on gender-affirming care for minors and support medical care for young people when properly implemented. Lawsuits have been filed in several states that have enacted bans this year.
“We’re in Missouri, or Illinois, where gender-affirming care is protected by state law,” said Yamercy Rodriguez, president and CEO of Family Planning Organizations in the St. Louis Area and Southwest Missouri. We will work together to ensure that patients receive the care they need.” said in a post-judgment statement.
Thirty years ago, the Food and Drug Administration approved puberty blockers to treat children with precocious puberty, when sexual development begins much earlier than normal. Sex hormones (synthetic forms of estrogen and testosterone) were approved decades ago for the treatment of hormonal disorders and for contraception.
The FDA has not approved the drug specifically for the treatment of transgender youth. However, they have been used “off label” for that purpose for many years and are a common and accepted practice for many medical conditions. This mediation is also used to treat precocious puberty and other health conditions in children. Physicians who treat trans patients argue that decades of use are proof that the treatment is not experimental.
