GOP leaders face obstacles in restricting transgender health care access.

Proposed restrictions on gender-affirming care faced new hurdles in Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee this week, as health care for transgender patients evolves into a hallmark issue for Republican-led states and GOP-controlled assemblies. The US Justice Department sued to challenge a new Tennessee law banning certain medical care to transgender youth, while a Missouri judge temporarily blocked limits on gender-affirming care. In Kansas, state lawmakers on Wednesday fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the governor’s veto of a bill that would strip physicians of their licenses if they provide care to those under age 18.