Missouri Implements Restrictions on Transgender Medical Care for Adults and Minors.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued an emergency regulation that would severely restrict gender-transitioning treatment for both adults and minors, citing a consumer protection law. The regulation includes at least 18 months of therapy with a psychologist or psychiatrist before receiving puberty-blocking drugs or surgeries. Transgender rights advocates said it would make Missouri the first state in the country to restrict gender-transitioning care for all ages. Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri promised swift legal action, saying that the rule was “based on distorted, misleading and debunked claims” and an attempt “to play politics with lifesaving medical care.”