MU Faculty Council approves statement asking MU Health Care to ensure forms of transgender health care for minors
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The MU Faculty Council on Thursday voted 22-1 in favor of a statement that opposes MU Health Care’s recent announcement that it would stop prescribing puberty blockers to current minor patients.
MU Health Care made the announcement in August after a law banning gender-affirming care for Missouri youth went into effect. The MU Faculty Council began drafting the statement last month.
The full statement from the MU Faculty Council reads:
“MU’s Faculty Council expresses our support and concern for our colleagues who are transgender as well as families within our organization affected by recent changes in the law concerning transgender healthcare. We acknowledge the constraints that the law has placed on medical providers and recognize that physicians continue to provide other care to their patients. We implore MU and MU Health to ensure an inclusive and supportive environment for all members of the university community by committing to the well-being of all affected families and individuals through expanded access to mental health services; providing an array of educational resources, such as workshops, webinars, support groups, and/or seminars on healthcare options and legal rights; and expanding resource referrals for community, medical, and legal support.”
An MU Health Care spokesman said in August that other forms of gender-affirming care could still be provided.
“Health care providers face significant legal liability for prescribing or administering cross-sex hormones or puberty-blockings drugs to existing minor patients under the new cause of action,” MU Health Care spokesman Eric Maze wrote in an email. “MU Health Care providers may continue to provide other types of gender affirming care that is not impacted by the law.”
Attorney General Andrew Bailey sent a letter on a letter in August to Missouri health providers telling them to cease any treatments that might violate the law.
Senate Bill 49, also called the "Missouri Save Adolescents From Experimentation" Act, doesn't allow anyone younger than 18 years old to receive any surgeries, puberty blockers or hormone therapies that aide in transitioning genders. It went into effect on Aug. 28 and runs until Aug. 28, 2027.
