A Missouri circuit court judge on Monday declined to restore access to gender-affirming care for minors in the state, ruling in a 74-page judgment that a law banning children from accessing medical care is constitutional.
The Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act, which bars medical professionals from providing hormone therapy and puberty blockers to anyone younger than 18, was signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike Parson in 2023.
It also bans gender transition surgeries for minors (which are exceedingly rare), bans prisons and jails from providing gender-affirming surgeries, and prohibits Missouri Medicaid from covering similar treatments for adults.
Judge Robert Craig Carter of the 44th Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri disputed the findings of medical experts in his ruling, citing a “total lack of consensus” on the medical ethics of treating gender dysphoria.
“The evidence from trial showed that the medical ethics of gender dysphoria treatment for children and…
