The bill that Gov. Mike Parson signed into law that prohibits prescribing puberty-blocking pharmaceuticals to minors will be devastating for trans people of all ages, according to the ACLU of Missouri.
“While the government pushed this deceitful bill behind the guise of protecting children, buried within the law is a ban on health care for adults based on the amount of money they earn or whether they are incarcerated,” said Tom Bastian, ACLU of Missouri spokesperson.
Also known as the SAFE Act, Senate Bill 49 bars Missouri's Medicaid program from providing payment for gender transition surgeries, cross-sex hormones, or puberty-blocking drugs for the purpose of gender transition.
“Senate Bill 49 ignores the evidence-based clinical recommendations of every major medical association,” Bastian said. “This law strips patients and parents of their rights and requires that decisions related to medical treatment that should be based on consent informed by medical professionals be dictated by the uninformed opinions of politicians.”
The Missouri General Assembly approved SB 49 on May 10 and Gov. Parson signed it into law on June 7.
“We support everyone's right to his or her own pursuit of happiness, however, we must protect children from making life-altering decisions that they could come to regret in adulthood once they have physically and emotionally matured," Governor Parson said in a statement online. "These decisions have permanent consequences for life and should not be made by impressionable children who may be in crisis or influenced by the political persuasions of others."
Senate Bills (SB) 39 was also approved by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Parson on June 7.
SB 39 prohibits educational institutions from allowing biological male students from participating in sports teams designated for biological females.
"In alarming fashion, legislators took extraordinary efforts to target and prevent eight students statewide from playing sports in SB 39, while choosing to not solve issues that would benefit all Missouri students such as Missouri’s teacher shortage,” Bastian added.
While SB 49 prohibits prescribing hormone or puberty-blocking pharmaceuticals to minors, SB 39 penalizes schools and provides for a cause of action for injunctive or other equitable relief when a student is deprived of an athletic opportunity due to a violation of the new law.
"We, along with the vast majority of the General Assembly, agree that women and girls deserve fair sports competition without intrusion from biological men," Parson said. "Women and girls deserve and have fought for an equal opportunity to succeed, and with this legislation today, we stand up to the nonsense and stand with them as they take back their sports competitions. In Missouri, we support real fairness, not injustice disguised as social righteousness."