Missouri officials are caught in a tense debate over whether or not a state ban blocking transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming care can be enforced in the state’s largest city.
The Kansas City Council this month approved a resolution that declared the Democratic-leaning city as a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, a move that bucked the Republican-backed ban.
GOP lawmakers across the nation have introduced a flurry of legislation seeking to restrict health care for transgender minors. Nineteen states currently have a ban in place and another eight are considering bills that would enact one, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Three in 10 transgender youth live in states that have passed a health care ban.
The Missouri ban, which prohibits access to puberty blockers, hormones or gender-affirming surgery, has been passed by state legislators but not yet signed into law by Governor Mike Parson, who is widely expected to do so. Parson had threatened to call lawmakers into a special session if the ban was not passed.
Stephen Zenner/Getty
But Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican who was elected to office last year, is already moving against the city council decision. On Wednesday, Bailey wrote a letter to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, urging city authorities to enforce the ban despite the “unprecedented and radical” resolution.
Because Kansas City is the only city in Missouri that does not control its police force, Bailey told the board that abiding by the sanctuary vote would be “a flagrant violation of the Board’s legal duties.”
“It is the Board’s constitutional duty to enforce the law and ensure that children are protected from these dangerous, experimental gender transition interventions,” Bailey wrote. “As Missouri’s top legal officer, I will take any legal action necessary against the City to ensure our state laws are enforced.”
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves has already said that the department would not enforce the transgender ban because the provisions are “outside the jurisdiction of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department.”
“Based on the nature of the proposed changes in the law, the police department plays no role in these law changes because the provisions do not pertain to criminal conduct, but rather seeks enforcement through medical licensing and civil action,” Graves said in a Monday statement.
The ban on health care for transgender youth does not include any criminal penalties, but a health care provider who violates the restrictions could have their professional license revoked. Those who prescribe or administer puberty-blocking dugs to a minor could also be sued.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, whose jurisdiction includes Kansas City, has also supported the city’s action, saying his office would continue to take all legal steps to protect transgender people in Missouri.
“Rather than focusing on crim[i]nalizing trans individuals, the criminal justice system should seek to protect them,” Baker said in a May 11 statement. “Each person needs to know they can seek health care for their needs and that those needs will be addressed.”
Graves added: “I want to assure Kansas City, we will continue to serve all the members of the community equitably regardless of race, ethnicity, age, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.”
Democratic state Senator Lauren Arthur criticized Bailey for conflating the ban’s civil penalties and the police’s criminal authority.
“Sounds like Andrew Bailey needs to Google what police do instead of making them waste their time explaining to the state’s top lawyer that police handle criminal cases, not civil actions,” Arthur told the Kansas City Star on Wednesday.
On Monday, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, a Democrat, urged residents not to engage with “certain statewide candidates” who have been attacking those living in the city.
“The attacks are performative, either to hide a silver spoon upbringing or to cover up a stunning lack of policy positions that will improve Missourians’ quality of life,” Lucas tweeted. “There are smart ways to battle. Amplifying their messages is not. Let’s have our narrative, not play theirs.”