Missouri judge blocks restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare for trans individuals.

A Missouri judge has temporarily blocked a rule that restricts access to gender-affirming healthcare for transgender children and adults, hours before it was set to take effect. The rule would place requirements on minors and adults before they are allowed to receive gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers or hormones. Transgender Missourians and healthcare providers sued to stop it, claiming that the attorney general acted beyond his authority in attempting to regulate gender-affirming healthcare under consumer-protection laws. The rule will require people to have experienced a documented gender dysphoria for three years and to have received at least 15 hourly sessions with a therapist over at least 18 months before receiving puberty blockers, hormones, surgery or other treatment.