COLE COUNTY − A lawsuit was filed Tuesday to block the implementation of Senate bill 49, which bans gender-affirming care for minors and some adults.
The lawsuit asks the court to issue a preliminary injunction that would immediately block the law from going into effect on Aug. 28.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, Lambda Legal and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP filed the suit in Cole County Circuit Court, according to a news release from the ACLU.
The suit was filed on behalf of three families of transgender young people; the Southampton Community Healthcare in St. Louis and two of its medical providers; Pflag, Inc., a national LGBTQIA+ family-based organization; and GLMA, an international organization of LGBTQIA+ and allied health care professionals and students.
"We are frightened and outraged at Missouri's assault on our rights as parents to seek necessary health care for our children," the families said in a news release. "SB 49 is an attempt to interfere in our family relationships and it places the health and well-being of our children at great risk. It must be stopped."
Have the latest local news delivered every morning to start your day informed.
Defendants include Gov. Mike Parson, Attorney General Andrew Bailey, the Missouri Division of Professional Registration for the Healing Arts and six of its board members are listed as defendants.
Parson signed the bill into law in June. It prohibits health care providers from providing gender-affirming care, including surgeries, puberty blockers or hormones, to anyone under the age of 18.
The bill also prohibits transgender adults from access to gender-affirming health care under Medicaid, and gender-affirming surgery will no longer be available to prisoners and inmates.
Minors who have already started treatment are allowed to continue under the bill.
Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed an emergency rule in April that would have imposed restrictions on both adults and children seeking gender-affirming health care. The ACLU sued and successfully gained a temporary restraining order to block the rule's implementation. Bailey then rescinded the rule, while the Missouri General Assembly successfully passed SB 49
