KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas says he is reviewing how the city can join the Missouri ACLU's lawsuit, aiming to block Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's restrictions on transgender health care in the state.
The Missouri ACLU, Lambda Legal and Bryan Cave Leighton LLP attorneys representing transgender Missourians and health care providers sued to block the state restrictions.
Bailey's regulation requires people seeking gender-affirming medical treatments to have experienced an "intense pattern" of gender dysphoria for at least three years and to undergo at least 18 months of therapy before receiving any treatment.
Those involved in the lawsuit argue that Bailey does not have the authority to use a consumer-protection law to create emergency transgender health care regulations.
Lucas thanked those involved in the lawsuit for "standing up for the rights of and respect for all."
Reviewing the lawsuit and seeing how we at the City may be able to join the legal fight. Thank you to @aclu_mo and Missouri organizations standing up for the rights of and respect for all. https://t.co/7HhsyKxiXe
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) April 25, 2023
While Dr. Samuel Tochtrop of plaintiff Southampton Community Healthcare, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, described the restrictions as "a baseless and discriminatory attempt to limit the healthcare options for transgender individuals," Bailey argued the restrictions operate as "basic safeguards" and described gender-affirming care practices as "ideologically-based procedures masquerading as medicine.”
Children's Mercy Hospital is also suing Bailey over an investigation into the Kansas City hospital's transgender care services after a former employee of a separate hospital, Washington University Pediatric Transgender Center, made allegations against the St. Louis hospital. An internal review, the hospital found the allegations were “unsubstantiated."
Bailey's office has temporarily taken down the web page for the Missouri government's tip line for "questionable gender transition interventions," which Bailey said was launched to receive reports of malpractice at transgender care service clinics. Bailey's office says the web page is down as it investigates attempts from "far-left activists" to hack the tip hotline. Bailey's office did not provide additional information on the alleged hack attempts.
"Rather than standing on their supposed science to back up their facts, they’re resorting to trying to hack our system to silence victims of the exact network we’re attempting to expose," said Madeline Sieren, the Missouri Attorney General's Office press secretary. "We will not back down in the fight to protect children."
