Missouri sues clinic that challenged ban on gender-transition medicine for minors

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has taken motion towards a clinic that sought to dam the state’s ban on gender-transition medicine for minors, accusing the supplier of beforehand treating kids with out satisfactory psychological evaluations.

The counterclaim filed by Mr. Bailey alleges that Southampton Community Healthcare violated the state’s consumer-protection legal guidelines by failing to safe a “comprehensive mental health assessment” earlier than prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors.

“Before gender transition interventions were banned for minors in Missouri, Southampton failed to adopt and consistently apply a policy of ensuring that each minor patient receive a comprehensive mental health assessment before undergoing such interventions,” the legal professional normal’s workplace mentioned.

Senate Bill 49, often called the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, took impact Aug. 28. The legislation forbids prescribing gender-transition medicine to new sufferers beneath the age of 18, though minors who obtained them earlier than the legislation kicked in might proceed to take action.

Southampton and two of its medical suppliers had been amongst these difficult SB 49, which was signed into legislation in June by Republican Gov. Mike Parson. The courtroom rejected their movement for a preliminary injunction in August.

Before that, Southampton joined LGBTQ teams and oldsters in search of to cease Mr. Bailey’s emergency order blocking gender-transition procedures for minors, calling it “baseless and discriminatory.” A state decide granted in May their request for a brief injunction.

The Washington Times has reached out to Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, which signify Southampton within the litigation.

Mr. Bailey mentioned he’s in search of “full restitution for victims who underwent gender transition procedures without a mental health assessment, a civil penalty of $1,000 for each violation, and an injunction to halt future such violations.”

“As long as I’m Attorney General, I will fight to ensure that Missouri is the safest state in the nation for children,” Mr. Bailey mentioned in a press release. “These providers failed Missouri’s children when they rejected even a diluted medical standard and subjected them to irreversible procedures. My office is not standing for it.”

Missouri landed on the middle of an uproar over “gender-affirming care” in February when a former caseworker on the Washington University at St. Louis gender clinic mentioned adolescents had been routinely pharmaceuticals with out satisfactory psychological well being screenings.

A university-conducted evaluate discovered that the whistleblower’s allegations had been “unsubstantiated,” however mentioned it will tighten its insurance policies, together with acquiring written parental consent earlier than giving “gender affirming medication” to minors.

The college additionally mentioned it will “reaffirm its policy prohibiting gender-affirming surgery” after discovering six breast removals had been carried out by Washington University on adolescent women since 2018.

“Washington University physicians no longer perform gender-affirming surgeries on patients under the age of 18,” mentioned the college’s April 21 report.