Pro-family advocates scored a significant victory in Missouri recently. Here’s why it matters. The state passed a ban on so-called “gender affirm care” for children in June. These radical medical procedures are neither “affirming” nor are they health care. They involve powerful sterilizing drugs and extreme surgical procedures in vain attempts to deny biological reality.
Unfortunately, every lower trial court so far has blocked enforcement of these pro-child, commonsense laws because they rely on statements from far-left, pro-trans advocacy groups. (Two federal appeals courts, however, have ruled in our favor and overturned lower court injunctions against similar laws.)
In contrast to those previous lower court rulings, the Missouri trial court seriously examined the evidence and refused to block the law. In his ruling, Judge Stephen Ohmer wrote, “The science and medical evidence is conflicting and unclear. Accordingly, the evidence raises more questions than answers.”
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who proudly defended the law, declared, “Today is a day that will go down in Missouri history. We put their ‘evidence’ under a microscope, and it spoke for itself. . . Missouri is the first state in the nation to successfully defend at the trial court level a law barring child mutilation.”
Dr. Paul Hruz, an endocrinology researcher at Washington University School of Medicine, testified in support of Missouri’s law. He blasted pro-transgender medical groups, such as the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the Endocrine Society, for putting ideological advocacy ahead of objective analysis. (Remember the names of those organizations. If you see them in the news, understand that they are propogandists for the radical transgender movement.)
Dr. Hruz told the court that “there are no long-term, peer-reviewed published, reliable, and valid research studies” to support radical transgender procedures on children. In fact, this is precisely why many European nations are slamming the brakes and reversing course when it comes to treating children with gender dysphoria.
Dr. Hruz also warned that the negative effects of puberty blockers on young children are numerous, including, “low bone density, disfiguring acne, high blood pressure, weight gain, breast cancer, liver disease and cardiovascular disease.”
JDFI celebrates the Missouri ruling as a victory for children and common sense.