Missouri AG seeks to ban dangerous gender transition procedures for minors
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey argues the procedures have long-term health consequences and suggests psychology and psychiatry treatments as an alternative.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey joined "America Reports" Friday to discuss his new emergency regulation restricting gender transition care for minors, calling them "dangerous procedures."
The Republican attorney general’s emergency rule will require children to receive 18 months of therapy before receiving gender-affirming health care.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Bailey said gender-affirming surgeries, puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones could cause "long-term health consequences" like blindness, brain swelling and loss of bone density, according to the FDA.
"These are dangerous procedures that are not backed up by science," he said on "America Reports." "They cause long term health consequences. Both the administration of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can lead to blindness, brain swelling, loss of bone density and certainly the surgeries have irreversible long-term health consequences."
LIMITS ON TRANSGENDER CARE FOR MISSOURI YOUTHS TO BEGIN SHORTLY
Bailey said health care providers should help children seek psychiatry and psychological care to "protect" them from "experimental medications and surgical procedures." He calls his emergency rule "common sense" to protect Missouri children's "health and safety."
""We’re fighting to instill in providers the need to resort to psychiatry and psychology to protect children from these dangerous experimental medications and surgical procedures," he told host Sandra Smith.
A study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality said, "There is a lack of current evidence-based guidance for the care of children and adolescents who identify as transgender, particularly regarding the benefits and harms of pubertal suppression, medical affirmation with hormone therapy, and surgical affirmation."
However, a 2019 American Psychological Association study suggested that "gender-affirming hormones were found to be associated with decreases in suicidality and improvements in general well-being" of trans youths.
In his press release on the emergency regulation, Bailey said European countries like the United Kingdom are curtailing their gender-affirming procedural care due to their "experimental" nature.
Robert Fischer, a spokesman for Missouri LGBTQ+ advocacy organization PROMO said in a statement to Fox News Digital that Bailey justifies his regulation with selective facts.
"The Missouri Attorney General’s claims are cherry-picked and come from unverified sources that allow him to promulgate misleading information into an emergency rule. Let’s be clear—gender-affirming healthcare is based on decades of clinical experience and research and is not considered experimental," the statement read.
A 2019 American Psychological Association study suggested that "Gender-affirming hormones were found to be associated with decreases in suicidality and improvements in general well-being" of trans youths."
Bailey announced the rule the same day the Missouri House voted to ban access to minor’s transgender-related health care. However, the passage remains uncertain in the Senate.
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Bailey’s rule will take effect starting April 27, 2023, until February 2024.
