Reaction to policy change updated at 10:30 p.m.
The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital will stop providing gender reassignment surgeries, puberty blockers and hormones to patients under 18, due to a new law that makes such care illegal. took effect.
law, Passed by a majority of the Missouri Republican Legislature. Earlier this year, the ban on care was waived for patients already receiving treatment. But University of Washington officials said in a statement Monday that the legal liability of continuing certain gender reassignment treatments, even for existing patients, is too risky and subject the university’s health care providers to lawsuits. He said that
“Missouri’s new law regarding transgender care creates new legal claims for patients who were given these drugs as minors,” university officials said in a statement. “This legal claim creates unsustainable responsibilities for medical professionals and imposes an unacceptable level of responsibility on universities and health care providers to continue providing comprehensive transgender care to minor patients. You won’t be able to maintain that.”
The legislation was introduced by Sen. Mike Moon (R-Ash Grove) and took effect late last month. The law allows former patients to sue their health care providers if they can prove infertility was caused by hormones or drugs from hormone replacement therapy. Additionally, providers could lose their licenses if they provide gender reassignment treatment to minors. The law prohibits health care providers from asking patients to sign a disclaimer that could protect them from future liability.
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“Our physicians have treated these patients with skill and dedication,” Wash University officials said in a statement. “They have continued to provide care in accordance with the standard of care and with the informed consent of patients and their parents or guardians. We are proud of their dedication to our patients and their profession. We are grateful to our healthcare providers.”
The clinic will continue to provide mental health treatment and education to clients under 18 and treatment for clients 18 and older will not be affected, the statement said.
University of Washington officials said they are working with patients and other families to find other providers for existing patients affected by the decision. A spokesperson did not say whether these providers are within the BJC system or at other University of Washington facilities.
clinic At the center of controversy over transgender medical care for minors Former caseworker Jamie Reed wrote in an op-ed and affidavit for the online publication The Free Press earlier this year that health care providers treated transgender children too quickly and were not doing what was best for them. In response to claims that the company was acting without considering profits. He disputed Reed’s account.
Brian Munoz
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st louis public radio
Missouri Republicans have argued there is a lack of science to support gender-affirming procedures.
Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Monday sought to take credit for Wash You’s turnaround.
“After the law that my office successfully defended in court went into effect two weeks ago, the University of Washington stopped prescribing all puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children,” he said. he wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
American Academy of Pediatrics, Endocrine Society, American Medical Association, and many other professional medical organizations We support age-appropriate gender-affirming care.
Susan Hara, president of Transparent, a St. Louis-based advocacy and support group for transgender families, said the university’s decision will prevent parents of minors treated at Wash U from seeking care. He said he became panicked.
“This is a forced transition and it is medically dangerous,” she said. “Politicians are now playing God to children.”
Members of the national transparency group plan to meet with other families in the area later this week and discuss care options with representatives from the Wash. University Clinic, she said.
“This is a shock to the gut,” said Lori Picker Nice, the mother of a child being treated at the University of Washington clinic. “All I can think about is how difficult this year has been fighting the bills in Jefferson City…not that things have been great, but it felt like there was a little reprieve.1 We didn’t know what was going to happen on the moon, but we felt safe for a little while.”
Picker Nace said she is struggling with how to take the news and is preparing to tell her children.
“Knowing this today just reinforced the feeling I’ve had all year: You never know where a hit song is going to come from,” she said.
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