St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo issued a restraining order Monday against an emergency rule that would impose guidelines for treating transgender children and adults, according to the Associated Press.
Transgender advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union sued last week to stop the rule from taking effect. Ribaudo’s order will bar enforcement of the rule until May 15, unless she decides to extend it, the AP reported.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued the rule last month, titling it “Experimental Interventions to Treat Gender Dysphoria.” It would prevent patients from receiving hormones, puberty blockers, or surgery without an “intense pattern” of gender dysphoria documented over three years. It requires a patient to have 15 sessions with a therapist over 18 months as well as screening for autism and mental health issues prior to receiving these treatments, the AP reported.
Missouri @AGAndrewBailey reacts to today’s blockage by a circuit court judge of his emergency rule stopping transgender mutilations and hormone drugs for children. https://t.co/9eBvLjU8xd pic.twitter.com/ivmMFTPBdE
— Tony Perkins (@tperkins) May 1, 2023
In the order, Ribaudo wrote that the plaintiffs showed they will suffer “immediate and irreparable loss, damage or injury if the Attorney General is permitted to enforce the Emergency Rule, and its broad, sweeping provisions were implemented without further fact-finding or evidence.” (RELATED: ‘Whipping Out His Penis’: Megyn Kelly Launches Into Blistering Tirade Against Trans Activists)
However, Bailey remains confident that the rule will be vindicated upon further review, noting in a statement that “the Court even acknowledged that it deferred its consideration of the science until a later date,” the AP reported.
In an interview after the ruling, Bailey continued to defend the rule as necessary to protect children from a “left-wing ideology that’s masquerading as medicine.” He noted that there are “zero FDA approvals for cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to demonstrate that those pills are safe or effective at treating gender dysphoria.”
A hearing on the lawsuit challenging the rule is scheduled for May 11.