Missouri asks people to ‘report’ doctors offering life-saving trans healthcare
The government in Missouri has created a form so people can report doctors offering gender-affirming care. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The government in Missouri is encouraging people to report medical professionals providing gender-affirming care to patients, as the state seeks to crackdown on transgender healthcare.
The Transgender Center Concerns Form has gone live on the website of Republican Missouri attorney general Andrew Bailey, urging residents to “submit a complaint or concern about gender transition intervention you have experienced or observed in Missouri”.
Bailey, who assumed the office of attorney general in January, has brought in “emergency” restrictions against gender-affirming care for both minors and adults – which amounts to a near ban.
As reported on Sunday (16 April), trans Missourians will have to suffer through three years of “long-lasting, persistent and intense pattern of gender dysphoria” before obtaining treatment.
The restriction, which is set to take effect on 27 April until February 2024, will also force trans people to undergo 18 months of therapy before receiving gender-affirming care.
As well as this, “any psychiatric systems from existing mental-health comorbidities” – including depression or anxiety – must be resolved before treatment starts. Such restrictions also enforce a ban on care for trans adults with autism.
Trans adults in Missouri will also be checked for “social cognition” and will have to have check-ups for 15 years.
As reported by the Associated Press, Bailey’s spokesperson Madeline Sieren said: “We have serious concerns about how children are being treated throughout the state, but we believe everyone is entitled to evidence-based medicine and adequate mental health care.”
The specifics of the restriction tabled in Missouri are believed to be the first of their kind in the United States.
LGBTQ+ allies and trans folk were quick to troll the form, filling it in with responses such as the name “Ligma Balls” and saying “too many” men are getting gender-affirming care from viagra: “Clearly God wants them to have limp d**k”.
In a joint statement, the ACLU and Lambda Legal accused the Missouri government of playing politics with “life-saving medical care”.
“The attorney general’s so-called emergency rule is based on distorted, misleading and debunked claims and ignores the overwhelming body of scientific and medical evidence supporting this care,” the statement reads.
“Transgender people in Missouri deserve the support and care necessary to give them the same chance to thrive as their peers.
“Gender-affirming care is critical in helping transgender adolescents succeed in school, establish healthy relationships with their friends and family, live authentically as themselves, and dream about their futures.
“This emergency regulation will have a drastically negative impact on transgender youth, compounding the prejudice, discrimination, violence, and other forms of stigma they continue to face in their daily lives.”
