(Missouri Independent) – An emergency order that would set barriers to accessing gender-affirming care in Missouri is delayed until at least May 1.
St. Louis County Circuit Court Judge Ellen Ribaudo ruled Wednesday that she needed to hear from both the Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and plaintiffs prior to deciding if she would place a temporary restraining order on an emergency rule that would put limits on health care for transgender minors and adults.
Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri are representing five plaintiffs who they say would be harmed if the emergency order is enacted. The plaintiffs include two transgender teenagers, a transgender adult, a therapist, and a healthcare provider.
“The denial of medical treatment for gender dysphoria will lead to the development of physical and physiological characteristics that may be irreversible, undesirable, or necessitate otherwise-avoidable medical interventions in the future, such as surgery,” the lawsuit argues.
James Lawrence, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, argued there is no “emergency” since as gender-affirming care has been ongoing in healthcare for many years.
“The attorney general’s emergency rule tomorrow morning would require health care professionals in the state of Missouri to treat patients in a way they know causes harm,” he said.
The attorney general’s top deputy, Solicitor General Josh Divine, recommended “talk therapy” as an alternative to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and gender-affirming surgeries that the emergency rule could interfere with.
He alleged the “harms are substantial” for medical interventions, saying sepsis is a risk from surgery.
“The harms are extraordinarily high,” he said. “If this isn’t an emergency, I don’t know what is.”
Ribaudo is the third judge to be assigned the lawsuit, with the attorney general’s office pushing the case to a federal court and filing for a new judge after a federal judge ordered Wednesday afternoon that it be sent back to state court.
Ribaudo concluded that the court has “not had the opportunity to review the briefing sufficiently to fully rule on the motion.” She notes the attorney general’s office “has not yet filed their brief in opposition, which the court would like to review.”
If implemented, Bailey’s emergency order would place barriers to receiving gender-affirming care, such as requiring three years of documented gender dysphoria prior to treatment.
Speaking to LGBTQ+ advocates and community members after Wednesday’s hearing, Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, said she has reached out to leaders for help if the emergency rule is enacted.
Quade wrote to President Joe Biden and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services earlier this week asking for an executive order to extend coverage for Missourians to receive gender-affirming care under Medicaid in other states.
“Missourians now face unimaginable and dangerous choices, planning how to ration their medications, afraid they will be unable to continue getting the care they need to feel safe and comfortable in their own bodies,” she wrote.
She also wrote to the governors of Kansas and Illinois asking for their health care systems to accept Missouri patients seeking gender-affirming care out of state.
Katy Erker-Lynch, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group PROMO, told members of the community to work together.
“The courts and judicial system will not liberate trans people but they are one tool during this time,” she said.
State Sen. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, had a similar message. He said Wednesday that he’s watched LGBTQ+ people lose access initially but later gain it in numerous settings.
“We lose it first and then we win,” he said. “What we’re seeing this year is the lose-it-first part. But if we stick together, we win.”
U.S. Rep. Cori Bush called attacks against transgender people “lethal.”
“This is a fight that ultimately will save lives and is saving lives right now,” she said.
The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
