Missouri bans sex changes, puberty blockers, and hormones for minors, stops boys from competing in girls' sports

Missouri lawmakers have passed legislation that bans sex changes, puberty blockers, and hormones for minors. A bill that prevents any school from allowing biological males to compete in female sports was also passed.

Senate Bill 49 and Senate Bill 39 are both expected to be signed by Republican Governor Mike Parson after they were passed largely along party lines, CNN reported.

“When you have kids being surgically and or chemically altered for life for no good reason, yes, it’s time for the government to get involved,” Republican Rep. Brad Hudson said, according to TimCast.

SB49, introduced by state Senator Mike Moon, establishes the "Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act" and says that "no health care provider shall perform gender transition surgeries on any minor ... no health care provider shall prescribe or administer cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to a minor for a gender transition."

The bill does, however, still allow the treatments to continue for any minor who was receiving such treatment prior to the bill's enactment date.

"Health care services provided in prisons, jails, and correctional centers shall not include gender transition surgeries," the bill added.

SB39, sponsored by state Senator Holly Thompson Rehder, detailed that elementary schools through post-secondary schools are banned from letting males play in females' sports.

The bill "prohibits a private school, public school district, public charter school, or public or private institution of postsecondary education from allowing any student to compete in an athletic competition that is designated for the biological sex opposite to the student's biological sex as stated on the student's official birth certificate or other government record."

However, the bill made room for girls to compete in boys' sports should there be no opportunities available. Schools "may allow a female student to compete in an athletic competition designated for male students if no corresponding competition for female students is offered or available," the bill read.

As well, "any student who is over eighteen years old, who is deprived of an athletic opportunity as a result of a violation of the act" would be able to seek legal action against the offending school.

The Missouri chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union immediately took issue with the bills.

“Both bans attempt to erase transness from Missouri. Every person in the state should be alarmed by this weaponization of the government to intimidate people through the denial of basic health care and exclusion from extracurricular activities,” the ACLU said in a press release.

“Gender-affirming care saves lives," the ACLU also claimed.

Both bills are set to go into effect August 28, 2023.

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