Missouri Governor Signs Bills Protecting Women’s Sports and Minors from Experimental Transgender Drugs and Surgeries

Susan Berry, PhD

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) signed two bills Wednesday, one that blocks biological males from competing in women’s sports and another that protects minors from experimental transgender drug treatments and surgeries.

“Today, in an effort to protect the integrity of female sports and Missouri children from potentially harmful experimental surgeries and treatment, I have signed Senate Bill (SB) 39 and SB 49 into law,” Parson (pictured above) posted to Twitter.

According to the legislation summary, SB 39 “establishes guidelines for student participation in athletic contests organized by sex.”

The new law “prohibits a private school, public school district, public charter school, or public or private institution of postsecondary education from allowing any student to compete in an athletic competition that is designated for the biological sex opposite to the student’s biological sex as stated on the student’s official birth certificate or other government record as described in the act.”

The act clarifies that “a private school, public school district, public charter school, or public or private institution of postsecondary education may allow a female student to compete in an athletic competition designated for male students if no corresponding competition for female students is offered or available.”

Schools that violate the act “shall not receive any state aid or other revenues from the state.”

Additionally, the legislation provides that parents of “any student, or any student who is over eighteen years old, who is deprived of an athletic opportunity as a result of a violation of the act” may file a lawsuit.

“We, along with the vast majority of the General Assembly, agree that women and girls deserve fair sports competition without intrusion from biological men,” the governor stated. “Women and girls deserve and have fought for an equal opportunity to succeed, and with this legislation today, we stand up to the nonsense and stand with them as they take back their sport competitions.”

“In Missouri, we support real fairness, not injustice disguised as social righteousness,” Parson added.

SB 49, titled the Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, provides that “no health care provider shall perform gender transition surgeries on any minor.”

“Until August 28, 2027, no health care provider shall prescribe or administer cross-sex hormones or puberty-blocking drugs to a minor for a gender transition, unless such minor was receiving such treatment prior to August 28, 2023,” the act’s summary states.

According to the legislation, violations of the act would be considered “unprofessional conduct” and shall result in the revocation of a healthcare provider’s professional license and “grounds for a cause of action” against the provider.

Additionally, the act provides that the state’s HealthNet program “shall not cover gender transition surgeries, cross-sex hormones, or puberty-blocking drugs for the purpose of a gender transition and health care services provided in prisons, jails, and correctional centers shall not include gender transition surgeries.”

The American Principles Project (APP) notes that Missouri is now one of 22 states that ban biological males from competing in female sports and one of 19 states to protect minor children and teens from experimental and life-altering gender transition drugs and surgeries.

“Today, we can celebrate another win for biological reality,” said Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project (APP), in response to the new Missouri laws. “As the vast majority of Americans recognize, being male and female are innate, unchangeable realities of every person. Forcing society to adhere to the fiction that any person can ‘change’ their sex has caused severe harm to many — from the women athletes who have lost opportunities in sports, to the vulnerable children who have been encouraged to undergo dangerous, sterilizing ‘gender transition’ procedures.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) condemned the new laws as the organization continues to promote the left’s goal of embedding gender ideology in all facets of American society with the narrative that experimental treatments that can permanently alter the bodies of young people who may not be able to realistically consent to them are the equivalent of “lifesaving, gender-affirming care.”

“These bills do nothing but harm transgender Missourians and their families while adding inequities to a system already ripe with discriminatory laws and practices,” the ACLU of Missouri said, adding the organization “will continue to explore all options to fight these bans and to expand the rights of trans Missourians.”

“We support everyone’s right to his or her own pursuit of happiness,” Parson said. “However, we must protect children from making life-altering decisions that they could come to regret in adulthood once they have physically and emotionally matured.”

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Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Mike Parson” by Mike Parson. 

 

 

 

 

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