Gender Affirming Care

After a judge last week upheld a 2023 state law banning some gender-affirming medical care for minors, Republican lawmakers signaled that they aren’t done pushing for laws restricting the rights of transgender Missourians.

A 74-page ruling backs state’s argument defending law that has blocked transgender Missourians from accessing gender-affirming health care,

A Missouri judge will rule this year on a controversial 2023 law that limits gender-affirming care. We’ll hear why more about why families sued over the restrictions, and why the state is defending it.

With Donald Trump headed back to the White House, and Republicans cementing power in Missouri, transgender residents in Kansas City fear losing access to hormone treatments and living under an administration that campaigned on making them pariahs.

If adopted by Missouri voters on Nov. 5, Amendment 3 would end the state's near-total abortion ban and would cement the right to reproductive freedom in the constitution. Opponents have criticized the ballot language for being too broad — and in some cases have spread misinformation about it.

Recent polling by The Midwest Newsroom and Emerson College found that 56% of respondents considered the state’s current abortion ban to be too strict. But opponents of abortion rights argue that Amendment 3, the legalization ballot issue this November, would be too expansive.

Gov. Mike Parson and Sen. Josh Hawley have claimed that Missouri Amendment 3 — which would legalize abortion — would also allow minors to obtain gender transition surgeries without parental consent. Legal and medical experts say that's "wildly inaccurate."

The 13-day trial included testimony from transgender minors, who — along with their families and health-care providers — challenged the constitutionality of a 2023 Missouri law restricting physicians from prescribing gender-affirming medical care to minors.

Transgender adolescents are seeking to block a Missouri law passed last year that bars them from beginning puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, arguing the ban is unconstitutional and discriminatory. The trial begins Monday.

When the state of Missouri suddenly, and quietly, raised its requirements for changing gender markers on state IDs, it came as a shock to LGBTQ advocates and residents. The policy change the latest state effort restricting the rights of transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

The Missouri Department of Revenue used to allow the signature of a physician, therapist or social worker before approving the change of a gender designation. Now, it requires residents to provide either documentation of gender reassignment surgery, or a court order.

Washington University officials recently sought to clarify that it would continue some services after a former caseworker claimed that the pediatric center would close.