JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed a pair of bills Wednesday morning aimed at banning gender-affirming care for minors and restricting transgender athletes to play on the team that matches the sex on their birth certificate.
Missouri joins more than a dozen states in restricting or banning gender-affirming care to minors and at least 20 states in banning transgender athletes from playing on teams consistent with their gender identity.
SB 49 bans access to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or gender-affirming surgery. It also affects Medicaid patients due to the state prohibiting any funds from covering gender-affirming care in Missouri. Surgery is also no longer be available to inmates and prisoners.
SB 39 requires transgender athletes to compete on sports teams with their sex assigned at birth. The Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) said there are eight trans-student athletes who been approved through their policy: four competing at the middle-school level and four at the high-school level.
The Senate’s bill requiring transgender athletes to play on the sports team that aligns with their birth certificate also would expire in four years.
The bills will go into effect at the end of August.
