Missouri Attorney General (AG) Andrew Bailey expected a response Tuesday from both the Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis Andrew D. Martin and President of St. Louis Children’s Hospital Trish M. Lollo regarding a request that the Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital “impose an immediate moratorium” on prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to new patients.
Bailey sent the letter (pdf) calling for the moratorium on Feb. 10, a day after he had announced the launch of a multiagency investigation into the university’s Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
The announcement came on the same day, Feb. 9, that whistleblower Jamie Reed, a former employee of the center, went public in The Free Press with her firsthand account of “shocking allegations” about the Center’s “illegal conduct and malpractice,” Bailey’s announcement said.
The other agencies assisting with the Missouri AG’s multiagency investigation include the Missouri Department of Social Services, which will “investigate concerns of potential fraud, waste, or abuse in Missouri’s Medicaid program,” and Missouri’s Division of Professional Registration, which will “investigate the complaints they receive as part of this investigation, and take any necessary action against the licenses of Missouri professionals in violation of the board’s statutory and regulatory authority to ensure health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Missouri.”
Also on Feb. 9, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter (pdf) to Martin and Lollo, warning them that “accountability is coming” and announcing his office’s investigation into the Center’s treatment practices.
Hawley went on to direct them to “immediately” answer a spate of questions regarding the number of minors treated at the center, the types of treatment they received, the rates of any complications resulting from treatments, its policy to inform minor patients and their parents of potential risks of such treatment, sources of funding, and other information.
Washington University at St. Louis also released a statement on Feb. 9, stating, “We are alarmed by the allegations reported in the article published by The Free Press describing practices and behaviors the author says she witnessed while employed at the university’s Transgender Center.”
The statement went on to say that the university is “taking this matter very seriously” and announced it was doing an internal investigation “to ascertain facts.”
Bailey’s Feb. 10 letter applauded the university’s effort to “quickly launch an internal investigation,” but he also urged the Center to discontinue “prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to new patients” while the many investigations, including the university’s own, progress.
He asked that the university both share the information gleaned from its own investigation and fully cooperate with his multiagency investigation.
He closed the letter with, “Please respond to my office by February 14 about whether you will impose this moratorium to ensure that no more children are harmed during the pendency of these investigations.”
Bailey said in his letter and the Feb. 9 announcement that his office had already begun a “full investigation” two weeks earlier and had obtained a sworn affidavit (pdf) and documents that support the allegations, but had waited until the whistleblower had gone public before announcing the multiagency investigation already in progress.
Missouri Legislators Propose Numerous Bans
Missouri legislators have introduced eight bills this year banning “gender-affirming” care for minors, The Washington Post reported.
One of them, House Bill 463 (pdf), is called “Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act.” If passed, physicians or health care providers would be prohibited from providing gender transition treatment—medical or surgical—to any minor or refer them to others to provide such services.
In another proposed bill, HB 419, such actions would be classified as felony child abuse or neglect, according to Insider.
Yet another, SB 233, which would cause doctors to lose their licenses or subject them to lawsuits if they prescribed such treatments, drew both praise and anger at a legislative hearing taking place on Tuesday, KCUR 89.3, an NPR local affiliate reported.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, so far in the 2023 legislative session, 35 bills have been proposed nationwide that target “health care access for transgender people.”
The organization has created a new digital dashboard to track all such legislation as it is being introduced “to help advocates, organizers, and allies” to “take action.”
