Missouri bans gender-affirming care; Kansas City pushes back
- Lawmakers approved two bills limiting the rights of transgender people
- Kansas City is pushing to be a sanctuary city for gender-affirming care
- The Missouri ACLU called the two bills a “weaponization of the government"
FILE – Glenda Starke wears a transgender flag as a counter protest during a rally in favor of a ban on gender-affirming health care legislation, March 20, 2023, at the Missouri Statehouse in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
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(NewsNation) — Missouri lawmakers approved two bills that ban gender-affirming health care for minors and prevent transgender girls and women from participating on female sports teams.
Under one of the bills, transgender minors would no longer have access to puberty blockers, hormones or gender-affirming surgery. The ban would also prevent Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care in the state.
The other bill bans transgender student-athletes from joining girls’ and women’s teams from kindergarten through college, at both public and private schools. Schools that allow transgender girls and women to play on such teams would lose state funding.
The ACLU of Missouri called the two measures “weaponization of the government to intimidate people through the denial of basic health care and exclusion from extracurricular activities.”
But local officials in Kansas City moved to defy the state, pushing to designate their city as a sanctuary city for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care. The committee approved the resolution, forwarding it to the full council, which plans to consider it on Thursday.
At least 16 states have now enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, and at least 21 other states have passed restrictions on transgender athletes’ participation in sports.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
