Supreme Court will hear case about bans on gender-affirming care for minors
A case involving a law in Tennessee that restricts puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors will be heard by the Supreme Court.
Scripps News
One year ago, the Missouri legislature passed two bills prohibiting transgender youth from seeking gender-affirming care and participating in school sports.
Senate Bills 39 and 49 went into effect on Aug. 28, 2023. SB 39, sponsored by Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder, bans transgender students from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity. SB 49, also known as the “SAFE Act” sponsored by Sen. Mike Moon, bans trans youth from gender-affirming surgeries as well as from receiving hormones or puberty blockers.
Young people who were receiving hormones or puberty blockers before Aug. 28, 2023, are allowed to continue receiving them. Until the law expires in 2027, physicians who prescribe hormones or puberty blockers to minors risk having their licenses revoked or being sued by their patients.
The News-Leader contacted Rehder and Moon for comment on their respective bills but was unsuccessful in reaching either senator.
Forty-five-year-old Sabrina Lindaman began social transitioning in 2020 and medically transitioning in 2022. Social transitioning refers to changing a person’s name and/or pronouns, appearance or expression, etc. Medically transitioning refers to the use of hormones and gender-affirming surgery.
Although SB 39 and SB 49 do not affect her directly, Lindaman said over the past year, she’s spoken with several parents of trans children who are struggling to find support in Missouri.
“They see a happy child for the first time in this child’s existence and they don’t want to undo that,” Lindaman said. “It’s devastating for the child. It’s traumatic for the child. It’s devastating to watch as a parent. I’ve heard at least three or four families that have already just packed up and moved to Minnesota or Illinois.”
Torin Bowen, 29, is a stay-at-home parent of two children, ages six and nine.
“It definitely hit me wrong that I am not allowed to sit down with my child and make medical decisions with them now, between us and them and their doctors, medical professionals who know what they are talking about,” Bowen said about SB 39 and SB 49.
Like Lindaman, Bowen said he knows of numerous families that have already moved out of Missouri or are looking to due to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
SB 39 and SB 49 are not the only anti-trans bills legislators have tried to pass in Missouri over the past year. In April 2023, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued an emergency rule, which prohibited “experimental interventions to treat gender dysphoria.” However, Bailey overturned the rule not even a month later.
More: In wake of AG’s emergency rule, trans Ozarkers fear for safety, access to care
Though the rule was never implemented, trans individuals throughout the state were forced to think about their futures in unexpected ways.
“I stored up my medicine and that’s dangerous. Health-wise, I should be using a vial of medicine four times at most because of bacteria, infections and stuff like that,” Lindaman said.
Most trans woman on hormone replacement therapy utilize an injection.
“With the threat of my health care being banned, just because I’m transgender, I started having to make choices that were adverse to my health to make sure I had enough medicine if that ban went into effect, I could live off of it until I found a new place to find my medicine. And I know these parents are doing that with these children as well,” Lindaman said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
SLU study: One in three Missouri medical providers look to leave state due to legislation of health care
Last year’s laws haven’t just impacted trans people, but medical providers as well. According to a study by Saint Louis University, one in three medical providers surveyed said they were considering leaving Missouri due to legislation targeting LGBTQ+ individuals.
Missouri is among 22 states imposing legal or professional penalties on practitioners who provide gender-affirming care for minors. In five of those states, providers can be charged with a felony. These laws make it difficult for medical providers to follow best practices in medicine.
“Providers feel they’ve sort of lost their professional autonomy and they’ve lost their ability to sort of self-govern because the state has taken a position on a health care issue and turned it into a political discourse and conflict that’s very unnecessary,” said Katie Heiden-Rootes, an assistant professor at Saint Louis University and survey author, in a previous interview with the News-Leader.
More: SLU survey: 1 in 3 health care providers consider leaving Missouri due to anti-LGBTQ laws
In the midst of a national health care workforce shortage, everyone loses when medical providers leave, Heiden-Rootes said.
“As much as it’s easy to want to ignore politics or the political discourse of what’s being said, or say it’s not going to impact me, the availability of a health care provider in your area of the state, particularly in rural areas, matters a whole lot,” Heiden-Rootes said. “Even if you’re not part of the LGBT community, the downward effects of this kind of discourse and push in legislation will harm many people who aren’t a part of this community in an unforeseen consequence.”
How do Missourians feel about these bills? Statewide group aims to find out
In June, PROMO, Missouri’s largest LGBTQIA+ public policy and advocacy organization, launched a field program. Over the past few months, two part-time contract workers have canvassed in Springfield and St. Louis, asking residents about their thoughts on gender-affirming care and legislation revolving around it in Missouri.
PROMO Field Director Courtney Cook said the canvassers are usually out three to four times a week in either city. Since the start of the summer, they have knocked on doors in several Springfield neighborhoods, including Center City districts, University Heights, West Central and North Central. Canvassers will soon be visiting more homes in the southwest part of town.
Conversations are meant to feel “organic,” Cook said, but each visit starts with the same question: “Do you think that the government should control trans Missourians’ access to health care — on a scale of zero to 10, where zero is strongly in favor of control, 10 is strongly against that control and five is undecided?” Simultaneously, homeowners are shown a scale diagram to help with the dialogue.
“From there, we just kind of dig in,” Cook said. “Why is that the right number for you?”
For the most part, PROMO canvassers are targeting supporters of gender-affirming care or those who may be on the fence. Cook said the organization utilizes a specific software to better understand voter demographics.
More: Missourians looking to change gender on driver’s license have more hoops to jump through
The majority response canvassers are receiving is opposition to government control of gender-affirming health care, Cook said. However, some have been on the fence.
Around the Fourth of July weekend, the canvassers made a meaningful connection with a Springfield resident and her son.
“She asked us what we were there to talk about and we said, ‘We want to ask you some questions around trans healthcare and your thoughts on that,’ and she was like, ‘No, you don’t want to have this conversation with me. I’m busy,'” Cook recalled. “And her son was like, ‘No mom, you need to stand here and own your opinions. You need to have this conversation.’ He stayed as kind of mediator and we were able to have the conversation with this neighbor and ask her thoughts on government control around healthcare.”
The resident felt government control of gender-affirming care is necessary, especially when it comes to minors. Cook said the majority of the conversation with the resident was “mythbusting” untrue information she had heard about the trans community, such as the reality of social and medical transitioning and what standards of care look like.
In the end, the canvasser’s conversation with the residents was cut short but the interaction ended on a high note.
“The team kept canvassing down the street and on their way to their car, our neighbor’s son ran outside and waved the canvassers down and he just thanked them for being out in the community and having the courage to ask these questions because it ended up sparking an incredible conversation with the rest of his family over the holiday weekend,” Cook said.
When it comes to speaking with friends, family or neighbors who may be on the fence or against gender-affirming care, Cook recommended meeting people where they are at.
“That’s what we are doing every day when we’re out having these conversations. We’re creating a safe space where you can say what you need to say without judgement,” Cook added. “It’s really about listening.”
Cook also encouraged folks to only have these conversations in environments they feel comfortable in, while in the right headspace.
Though PROMO’s field program is facilitated by only paid staff right now, Cook is hopeful the organization will welcome volunteers next year, to survey a larger footprint throughout the state.
Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. She has more than five years of journalism experience covering everything from Ozarks history to Springfield’s LGBTQIA+ community. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at gcross@news-leader.com.
Susan Szuch reports on health and food for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.
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Publish date : 2024-08-27 21:55:00
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