Opponents of a law that would bar most transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming care in Missouri will get a hearing this week in Springfield.
A number of plaintiffs filed seeking to block a law that prohibits transgender minors from receiving care such as puberty blockers or hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria. The suit contends that the law violates constitutional rights to equal protection.
鈥淛ust as one cannot be discriminated against because of their sex under the federal equal protection clause, the same applies for Missourians under the Missouri Constitution,鈥� said Gillian Wilcox, the ACLU of Missouri鈥檚 deputy director of litigation, in late July. 鈥淎nd so that is the claim that this is sex discrimination. Because Missourians are being targeted both because of their transgender status and because of their sex assigned at birth. And the medication that they are allowed or not allowed to receive is based solely on that status.鈥�
The attorneys are seeking to stop the new law from going into effect next Monday. Wilcox said it is 鈥渁lmost hard to express what is at stake for families, for parents and for children.鈥�
鈥淭hese are young children, some of whom transitioned at very young ages. They鈥檝e been insistent, persistent and consistent in their gender identity as different as their sex assigned at birth,鈥� Wilcox said. 鈥淎nd what this law and this government is doing is not only discriminating because of their transgender status, but also their parents鈥� rights away and the child鈥檚 own right to their own health care that individuals in Missouri. All of those rights are being taken away simply because of transgender status.鈥�
In response, Attorney General Andrew Bailey鈥檚 office that contends that the law doesn鈥檛 violate equal protection guidelines because it applies to 鈥渁ny individual.鈥� It added that the court 鈥渟hould reject Plaintiffs鈥� attempt to block critical legislation designed to protect children.鈥�
鈥淭he [law] makes no distinction based on sex or gender, or even transgender status. It applies evenly to boys and girls,鈥� Bailey鈥檚 brief stated. 鈥淭he only distinction made is based on the condition to be treated.鈥�
Republican Sen. Mike Moon of Ash Grove, the sponsor of the bill in question, said in a statement that it鈥檚 not unusual for lawmakers to place age restrictions 鈥渙n certain procedures and processes due to an individual鈥檚 lack of maturity in the past.鈥�
鈥淚n simple terms, [the bill] acts as a pause button,鈥� Moon said in his statement.
Wilcox said Moon鈥檚 argument doesn鈥檛 hold water because 鈥渢here鈥檚 a big difference between different types of laws that target a specific audience of people for a specific reason.鈥�
鈥淎nd this is sex discrimination, because the only basis for targeting this group of individuals is because of their transgender status or their sex assigned at birth 鈥� which is different from what they identity currently,鈥� Wilcox said.
A common path
Opponents of similar gender-affirming care bans in other states have argued, with some success, that the measures violate constitutional guarantees to equal protection.
While federal judges have frozen gender-affirming care bans in Tennessee and Kentucky, Bailey鈥檚 brief notes that federal appellate courts have allowed those laws to take effect.
鈥淭he science is on our side. We鈥檙e feeling confident going into next week,鈥� Bailey said in a statement on the social media platform X. 鈥淢issouri鈥檚 children are worth the fight.鈥�
But unlike other challenges, the consortium of lawyers are asking a state judge, and not a federal one, to stop the law from going into effect next Monday. Wilcox said that state courts are an appropriate venue because there are guarantees for equal protection in Missouri鈥檚 Constitution.
Kelly Gillespie, a professor of law at St. Louis University, said it鈥檚 not unusual for plaintiffs to use a state constitution, as opposed to the federal one, as a means of striking down a measure.
鈥淏ecause a lot of the things we think about and that we're more familiar with in terms of the federal constitution, like equal protection and due process 鈥� those kinds of provisions also exist in state constitutions,鈥� Gillespie said. 鈥淎lthough their wording may vary a bit, by and large, they exist in state constitutions as well.鈥�
