Jefferson City, Mo. - In response to the Missouri General Assembly’s passage of Senate Bills 39 and 49, the ACLU of Missouri issued the following statement:
“Gender-affirming care saves lives. The Jefferson City politicians’ intentional choice to abuse transgender Missourians will devastate trans people and their families. Despite recommendations from every major medical association based on peer-reviewed studies supporting the necessity of life-saving gender-affirming care, the Missouri legislature again seeks to impose politicians’ will in place of allowing medical professionals with the informed consent of their patients to provide the care that is in the best interest of their patients. As they have with abortion, politicians again demonstrate they do not care about the impact on Missouri families.
“Both bans attempt to erase transness from Missouri. Every person in the state should be alarmed by this weaponization of the government to intimidate people through the denial of basic health care and exclusion from extracurricular activities. The Attorney General has already shown that erasing trans youth is just the start of the despot tactics politicians will utilize to eliminate vulnerable Missourians from public if it will further their personal political pursuits.
“The ACLU of Missouri will continue to explore all options to fight these bans and to expand the rights of trans Missourians.”