Judge blocks Missouri rule limiting transgender health care

By JIM SALTER and SUMMER BALLENTINE
Associated Press

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge has blocked a first-of-its-kind rule restricting access to gender-affirming health care just hours before it was set to take effect. A judge on Wednesday ruled against the Republican attorney general’s emergency rule on transgender health care, putting it on hold until at least Monday. Lawyers representing transgender Missourians and health care providers sued to block the rule from taking effect. The rule would require documentation of gender dysphoria for three years and therapy over at least 18 months before patients could access gender-affirming medical treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones or surgery.