Republican Gov. Mike Parson of Missouri signed a bill Wednesday banning sex-change surgeries and puberty blocker treatments for minors, according to a press release.
SB 49 was introduced by Republican state Sen. Mike Moon, and “prohibits healthcare providers from performing gender transition surgeries” or administering “cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to a minor for a gender transition,” unless the minor in question has been receiving such treatments prior to Aug. 28, 2023. Parson signed the bill Wednesday, saying that it would “protect children from making life-altering decisions,” according to the press release. (RELATED: GOP 2024 Candidates Are United On One Thing: Opposing Sex Changes For Minors)
“We support everyone’s right to his or her own pursuit of happiness; however, we must protect children from making life-altering decisions that they could come to regret in adulthood once they have physically and emotionally matured,” Parson said in a statement. “We thank Senator Mike Moon for working to pass SB 49 to protect Missouri children from harmful, irreversible treatments and procedures. These decisions have permanent consequences for life and should not be made by impressionable children who may be in crisis or influenced by the political persuasions of others.”
Today, in an effort to protect the integrity of female sports and Missouri children from potentially harmful experimental surgeries and treatment, I have signed Senate Bill (SB) 39 and SB 49 into law. pic.twitter.com/NDbbkoq6gA
— Governor Mike Parson (@GovParsonMO) June 7, 2023
The bill also prohibits Medicaid from funding gender transition procedures and prisons, jails and correctional centers will also not have the ability to perform sex-change surgeries. The state Senate passed the bill in May after Parson said he would extend the session in order to get the legislation to his desk, according to The Associated Press.
The bill created waves among members of the state’s Democratic Party, who filibustered for five hours at one point in order to delay the bill. Democratic state Sen. Greg Razer told the Kansas City Star that he expected the bill to eventually be passed by his Republican colleagues, but argued that the bill would be “devastating” to “transgender kids.”
Parson also signed another bill that banned transgender athletes from competing “in an athletic competition that is designated for the biological sex opposite to the student’s biological sex.” Parson said in the press release that the bill stood up to the “nonsense” that is “disguised as social righteousness” and gave women an equal footing to compete in sports in the state.
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