Missouri: County Court Upholds State Ban on Sex-Change Treatments for Minors

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A Missouri county court on Monday upheld a new state law that bans sex-change surgeries for minors under the age of 18 as well as hormones and puberty blockers for minors who had not started those treatments by August 2023, the Associated Press reports. Missouri is among 26 states that have passed laws restricting or banning sex-change treatments for minors.

The case was filed by a group of plaintiffs including ACLU of Missouri and the families of several teenagers who identify as transgender, AP reports. The plaintiffs argued that Missouri’s law denies access to “medically necessary” treatments for transgender minors while still allowing similar treatments to children.

In upholding the law in his November 25 ruling, Wright County Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter noted that there is “an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment.”

“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 statement welcoming the ruling, Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey said: “I’m extremely proud of the thousands of hours my office put in to shine a light on the lack of evidence supporting these irreversible procedures. We will never stop fighting to ensure Missouri is the safest state in the nation for children.”
The plaintiffs have said they will appeal Monday’s ruling and seek to overturn the Missouri law, AP reports.

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