A Missouri judge has upheld a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth and some adults in the state, citing outdated studies and the errant belief that the science behind such care is “unsettled.”
Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter issued his ruling on Monday, siding with state Republican lawmakers who passed the ban into law in 2023. The deceptively titled Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act forbids doctors and other medical professionals from providing hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgical options to anyone under the age of 18. It also bans state funds, such as the Missouri Medicaid program, from providing gender-affirming care to adults.
Within his order, Carter complained about having to perform the functions of his job, claiming that he had too much information from opposing sides to make a formal decision.
“The court reporter’s transcript in this case is several thousand pages. … Attorneys provided the Court with so many binders of evidentiary documents that were piled so high on the bench that the Court’s vision was at times obscured,” Carter wrote in his order, stating that courts like his are “not equipped to choose” between opposing medical viewpoints.
“That is a job for the legislature,” Carter insisted.
Contrary to Carter’s claim that the science behind youth-based gender-affirming care is “entirely unsettled,” gender-affirming care — for both adults and youth — is safe and effective. Such treatments are approved by the vast majority of health organizations, and are recognized by many experts as potentially life-saving.
Notably, Carter’s ruling cited outdated (and debunked) research from the Endocrine Society, which wrongly stated that most children who identify as transgender change their minds later in life. (The Endocrine Society has since changed its position, and while it has a more conservative approach than........