Missouri attorney general withdraws rule limiting trans care for children and adults

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office on Tuesday pulled an emergency rule that would have limited care for transgender children and adults.

A spokesman for the secretary of state, which oversees Missouri’s administrative regulations, confirmed that Bailey’s office eliminated the rule.

Although the rule, which would have expired in February, has been terminated, it’s likely transgender minors will soon be barred from accessing hormones and other treatment. The Republican-controlled state legislature earlier this month passed a bill that prohibits gender-affirming treatment for minors but not adults, and Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign it.

Bailey said because the legislature acted, the rule was no longer necessary.

“We were standing in the gap unless and until the General Assembly decided to take action on this issue,” Bailey said in a statement. “The General Assembly has now filled that gap with a statute.”

The rule was on hold as lawyers for patients and doctors challenged it on the grounds it would have kept transgender people from receiving the treatment they want.