Gender Affirming Care

The November measure would essentially reinstate Missouri's abortion ban by repealing the reproductive rights amendment voters approved in 2024. It would also add a constitutional ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

Douglas County District Court Judge Carl Folsom said provisions the Kansas "Help Not Harm Act" likely violate the state constitution. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach called the decision “is a stark example of judicial activism.”

Jefferson City-based Beacon Reproductive Health Network called Hawley’s accusation that they are an abortion provider "intentionally misleading." The nonprofit distributes grants to 65 Missouri health centers, including city and county health departments and hospital-based clinics.

On International Transgender Day of Visibility, Kansas should remember the accomplishments of Dr. Alan L. Hart, a doctor and author born in Halls Summit in the late 19th century. In 1917, he made history by becoming one of the first known trans men in the country to undergo gender affirming surgery.

Mayday Health plans to reach 1.2 million people over the course of four weeks with three billboards in the Kansas City area, three in Topeka and one in Wichita.

The November amendment would prohibit most abortions in the state, overturning a 2024 vote to protect abortion rights. But two-thirds of surveyed Missouri voters also say they support banning gender-affirming care for minors, which is also included in the ballot question.

Kansas this week invalidated the IDs of transgender Kansans who changed the gender marker on their driver’s licenses or birth certificates. The ACLU is suing to stop the law, which also restricts bathroom use, saying it violates the constitutional rights of residents.

Missouri's current moratorium on treatments like hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors is set to expire in 2027. But Republicans and Democrats clashed over the research on gender-affirming health care.

Following hours of testimony last week, a Missouri House committee on approved bills that would cement the state's restrictions on transgender athletes and health care for transgender minors.

Gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors and participating on sports teams that align with trans athletes' gender identity are currently prohibited in Missouri. Those bans are set to expire in 2027, unless the state legislature opts to extend them indefinitely.

Plaintiffs had argued the prohibition violates the equal protection and due process clauses of the Missouri Constitution. The state's highest court unanimously ruled that restricting gender-affirming care does not violate the rights of transgender children.

Kansas will end all access to hormone treatments and other gender-affirming care for transgender minors in January. To keep getting care for their children, some families are opting to leave the state entirely.