JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 At least one top Missouri Republican isn鈥檛 defending Attorney General Andrew Bailey鈥檚 rules on transgender medical care, which advocates say would make Missouri the first state to restrict treatments for adults.
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said in an interview he disagrees with Bailey鈥檚 regulation even though he doesn鈥檛 support hormone therapy and gender surgeries for children and adults.
Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft speaks during a rally in the Missouri Capitol Rotunda on Monday, March 20, 2023, in Jefferson City.聽Activists gathered to push Missouri lawmakers to pass legislation that would limit transgender health care for minors.聽
Ashcroft said adults should be able to make their own decisions and predicted the Republican attorney general鈥檚 regulation won鈥檛 actually take effect.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 want to be the attorney that was defending it,鈥 Ashcroft, an attorney and engineer elected secretary of state in 2016, told the Post-Dispatch.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e an adult, you have the capacity to make your own decisions,鈥 Ashcroft said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a decision I would disagree with, but I don鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 the role of government to forbid it.鈥
People are also reading…
He said the government had a responsibility to protect children who are too young to give consent, and supports legislation restricting gender-related care for children. But Ashcroft said he wasn鈥檛 confident the attorney general had the authority to limit such care himself.
Advocates for the LGBTQ community have said Bailey鈥檚 regulation, which was issued last week and requires three years of documented gender dysphoria and 15 hours of therapy over 18 months before obtaining treatment, will erect barriers to obtaining care.
The rule is set to take effect April 27.
Planned Parenthood this week hosted a pop-up clinic for patients seeking care before the regulation starts. The group has said Bailey鈥檚 rule is an attempt to effectively bar gender-affirming care in Missouri.
Bailey has based the authority for the regulation on the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, a consumer protection law the attorney general enforces.
State government can issue regulations to 鈥渇ill gaps鈥 in current laws when the laws aren鈥檛 clear, Ashcroft said, but it鈥檚 the Legislature鈥檚 job to create new laws.
鈥淚f you are adding requirements that are not existent in the law, it seems to me that you are legislating,鈥 he said.
鈥淭here will be litigation and the courts will decide and I鈥檓 sure that the attorney general will have a reason why he believes it鈥檚 appropriate,鈥 Ashcroft said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a tough sell.鈥
Ashcroft is running against Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe for the Republican nomination for governor.
Kehoe, approached in the Capitol on Wednesday, declined to comment on Bailey鈥檚 regulation.
Emmett Campbell, a 19-year-old transgender student, describes his journey receiving gender-affirming care outside a Planned Parenthood聽pop-up clinic in 最新杏吧原创.
