The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the state of Missouri over an emergency rule regulating sex change operations for minors.
Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Missouri, and Bryan Cave Leighton LLP sued Monday to block the rule, which is scheduled to take effect Thursday. The suits defendant is Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who has released language for a new rule that identifies sex change operations as “experimental” and cites “significant side effects.” (RELATED: Biden Bemoans Banning Of Pornographic Children’s Books)
The Missouri regulation requires patients to be informed of several facts regarding sex change treatments, including that the FDA has not approved puberty blocker drugs or cross-sex hormones to treat gender dysphoria, and that the FDA has warned that puberty blockers can lead to brain swelling and blindness.
The Missouri ACLU and other groups sued Monday to block state Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s (R) new rule banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors and adults — restrictions that are set to go into effect Thursday. pic.twitter.com/TGnVFeOHij
— The Recount (@therecount) April 25, 2023
The lawsuit alleges that “the Emergency Rule’s attempt to regulate medical and mental health care in Missouri is counter to and misrepresents the medical and scientific knowledge base surrounding gender dysphoria and gender-affirming care.”
The lawsuit cites the standards of care of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which is a leading advocate for sex changes for minors. WPATH set standards of care for those with a “eunuch” gender identity in 2022, recommending castration as a treatment option. In creating these guidelines, WPATH used information from the Eunuch Archive, which contains fantasies of child castration, pedophilia and sexual torture.
“The Emergency Rule, therefore, is arbitrary and capricious for failing to consider these stakeholders’ legitimate reliance interests in avoiding higher compliance costs,” the lawsuit says.