Missouri judge to rule on strict trans health care limits

By SUMMER BALLENTINE
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge is expected to rule whether the Republican state attorney general’s unique rule can take effect that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill several other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery. St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo is expected to rule by 5 p.m. Monday whether to extend her order barring enforcement of Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s rule. Transgender people and health care providers are suing to block the rule, saying Bailey exceeded his authority by sidestepping the Republican-led Legislature and attempting to regulate gender-affirming care through the state’s consumer-protection laws.