Never-ending anti-LGBTQIA efforts in the land of the (not so) free.
In Missouri, the restrictions on puberty blockers and hormone treatment for transgender minors were deemed to be constitutional, and – as such – may remain in place. Wright County Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter made the anti-LGBTQIA ruling via a 74-page decision.
The conservative state in the US actually passed restrictions on gender-affirming care in 2023, which barred minors from beginning cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers, and undergoing gender transition surgeries. It similarly prevented the state from paying for gender-affirming care for adults in state prisons.
In his ruling, Carter noted the rightwing-leaning US Supreme Court precedent that allows lawmakers discretion in areas “fraught with medical and scientific uncertainty.” And since there is “an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment”, he decided to side with the anti-transgender state legislature to ban the care.
Carter wrote: “Regarding the ethics of adolescent gender-affirming treatment, it would seem that the medical profession stands in the middle of an ethical minefield, with scant evidence to lead it out.”
Carter added: “If we don’t let a 16-year-old buy a six pack of beer and a pack of smokes, or let an adult buy those items for them, should we allow the same kid/parent team to decide to change a teenager’s sex forever?”
The ACLU of Missouri and Lambda Legal plan to appeal the ruling. “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.”
