On Tuesday, the Missouri Senate approved a pair of bills that would restrict gender-transitioning healthcare treatments and transgender minors’ sports participation. The measures were a result of a national push led by Republicans to limit transgender healthcare, bathroom access, drag shows, and how LGBTQ topics are discussed in schools. The Senate’s vote followed a closed-door negotiation session that lasted all night, and the bills only passed after Republican lawmakers agreed not to prohibit transitions already in progress and to let the measures expire in 2027.
One of the bills, sponsored by Republican Senator Mike Moon, would prohibit gender-transitioning health care treatments for minors. Meanwhile, Republican Senator Holly Rehder proposed limits on transgender athletes’ participation in K-12 public school sports teams. However, the version approved by the Senate also applies to private K-12 schools and public and private universities, meaning some adults will also be impacted. Schools that violate the rule would lose all state funding.
The Republican-controlled Legislature’s bills reflect a nationwide effort by the party to limit transgender health care, bathroom access, drag shows, and the discussion of LGBTQ topics in schools. At least seven states have already enacted restrictions or bans on gender-affirming care, and more than 20 states are considering bills this year to limit or ban care.
Missouri’s GOP senators compromised by agreeing to allow minors already receiving hormone treatments or puberty-blocking drugs to continue to do so, applying that ban only to those who had not yet started them. However, healthcare providers who perform gender-transition surgeries or otherwise prescribe “cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs” to minors could have their medical licenses revoked and face potential lawsuits from their patients until they reach age 36. Republicans initially proposed a 30-year window for lawsuits.
Democratic Senator Lauren Arthur argued that the treatments ban is an example of “pretty serious government overreach.” She added, “You may have your opinions about this, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to impose your opinions or regulate someone else’s kids.”
Katy Erker-Lynch, executive director of the LGBTQ rights group PROMO, encouraged the bills’ opponents to fight every step of the way against the measures. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey also announced an emergency regulation limiting access to gender-affirming treatments for minors, requiring an 18-month waiting period, 15 hour-long therapy sessions, and treatment of any mental illnesses before Missouri doctors can provide gender-affirming treatments to children younger than 18.