Missouri judge upholds state's ban on gender-affirming care for minors

A Missouri judge on Monday upheld the state's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, which prohibits the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery on minors. 

The law, known as Senate Bill 49, was passed in 2023 but three transgender children and their parents sued the state to block its implementation. The law allows exceptions to the ban for minors who started receiving care before August of 2023, per CNN.

Wright County Circuit Court Judge R. Craig Carter ruled that the ban could remain because of a lack of consensus among medical professionals over the care.

“The evidence at trial showed severe disagreement as to whether adolescent gender dysphoria drug and surgical treatment was ethical at all, and if so, what amount of treatment was ethically allowable,” Carter wrote in a 74-page ruling. “The medical dispute has become more fractured in the last year, with even more medical authorities questioning the evidence for these interventions."

The law prohibits the use of gender-affirming care on minors, forbids state Medicaid funds from being used for any of gender-affirming procedures regardless of age, and threatens the licenses of doctors who violate the law.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey celebrated the ruling in a statement on Monday.

“The Court has left Missouri’s law banning child mutilation in place, a resounding victory for our children," Bailey said. "We are the first state in the nation to successfully defend such a law at the trial court level."

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.