Missouri to restrict gender-affirming care for minors

By SUMMER BALLENTINE
Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican attorney general says his office will limit access to gender-affirming care for minors. Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Monday announced an emergency rule requiring an 18-month waiting period before children can receive gender-affirming health care. Bailey’s office didn’t say when the rule will kick in. Bailey says he’s also requiring any mental health issues be treated before minors can get gender-affirming care. The move comes as Missouri’s Republican senators struggle to pass a law banning that health care for minors. Protesters are pressuring them to act. A chief diversity officer for the American Psychological Association called the attorney general’s rule “a disturbing development.”