Missouri Judge Halts Restrictions on Gender-Affirming Health Care for Trans Individuals.

A Missouri judge has temporarily blocked a rule that restricts access to gender-affirming health care for transgender kids and adults. The rule was set to take effect on Thursday, but the judge has put it on hold until at least Monday. The rule requires people to have experienced an “intense pattern” of 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. Transgender Missourians and health care providers sued to stop it from taking effect, arguing that the attorney general acted beyond his authority in attempting to regulate gender-affirming health care under the state’s consumer-protection laws.