Missouri lawmakers passed two bills Wednesday that would bar transgender athletes from playing on school sports teams that align with their gender and ban gender-affirming care for minors, the latest state to advance such legislation as transgender rights have become a marquee issue for the Republican Party.
The state House passed both bills largely along party lines Wednesday, after the state Senate approved them in March. They now head to the desk of Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who has expressed support for the legislation and is expected to sign them.
One of the bills passed, SB49, would limit minors’ access to gender-affirming care, which spans a range of evidence-based treatments and approaches that benefit transgender and nonbinary people. The types of care vary by the age and goals of the recipient, and are considered the standard of care by many mainstream medical associations.
If enacted, the bill would bar health care providers from performing gender transition surgeries, although such surgeries are not typically done on children and many health care providers do not offer them to minors.
Puberty blockers and hormone treatments for minors would also be banned until August 2027, but the legislation makes an exemption for those who begin receiving treatment before its effective date on August 28, 2023.
This bill follows an emergency rule issued by the state’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey last month that put limits on gender-affirming care for minors and adults. The rule has been paused through at least July 20 as a lawsuit plays out.
Republicans, including the governor, have argued that the bill is about protecting minors from permanent health treatments.
“All children, regardless of their gender or orientation, are invaluable and should not be subjected to potentially irreversible surgeries and…
Read the full article here