An order from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey that restricted gender transitions in the state was dropped Tuesday after a judge temporarily blocked it earlier this month.
The decision comes after St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo kept extending a restraining order against the new policy, saying patients would be "subjected to immediate and irreparable loss, damage, or injury."
Bailey's office previously issued guidance on April 13 declaring that transition procedures were "experimental," which means that informed consent and access to mental health care were required preconditions per state law.
The order followed Bailey's probe into a St. Louis pediatric center accused by a whistleblower of distributing experimental drugs, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones to children without individual assessment or parental consent.
"My office has uncovered a clandestine network of clinics across the state who are harming children by ignoring the science," Bailey said.
"My office is stepping up to protect children throughout the state while we investigate the allegations and how they are harming children," he added.
However, the Missouri branch of the American Civil Liberties Union challenged Bailey's new directive later that month, saying the Republican prosecutor lacked authority to restrict access to the treatments.
"The attorney general's dangerous and unlawful twisting of Missouri's consumer protection laws corrupt our health care system by inserting the government into the medical decisions of people and their doctors in order to play politics at the expense of lifesaving medical care," said Gillian Wilcox, ACLU of Missouri's deputy director for litigation.
On Tuesday, the group noted Bailey's move to drop the order in light of Ribaudo's latest ruling, which Axios reported extended the temporary stay until at least July, and pointed out that "the fight is not over."
Missouri lawmakers recently passed legislation that would bar health care providers from facilitating the gender transition of minors. Republican Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign the Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act into law.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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