Andrew Bailey, Missouri’s Republican attorney general, instituted an emergency rule on Thursday that imposes substantial precautions on administering transgender medical procedures to both minors and adults.

Citing numerous scientific studies and reports, the emergency rule determined that gender transition procedures are considered “experimental” and carry “significant side effects.” As per state law, the rule mandates “substantial guardrails” around such interventions.

As per state law, the rule mandates “substantial guardrails” around such interventions. The safety measures include requiring patients to undergo at least 15 hourly psychiatric evaluation sessions over 18 months, explicitly informing patients that the “use of puberty blocker drugs or cross-sex hormones” to treat gender dysphoria “is experimental and is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration,” and necessitating medical check-ups for 15 years after receiving such treatments. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued the emergency rule.

The move comes as Bailey continues his investigation into St. Louis Children’s Hospital’s Transgender Clinic following a whistleblower’s report of “egregious abuses and potential malpractice regarding minors” in early February.

Although 11 other states have banned pediatric transgender treatments citing comparable concerns of significant side effects and lack of scientific evidence, Missouri’s emergency rule is the first of its kind that focuses on both adult and pediatric patients.

“The regulation is necessary due to the skyrocketing number of gender transition interventions, despite rising concerns in the medical community that these interventions lack clinical evidence of safety or success,” Bailey said in his statement when he announced the rule, going on to cite studies by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare.

In fact, the Swedish board recently declared that “the risks” of these interventions “currently outweigh the possible benefits.”

“When even progressive countries like Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the United Kingdom have all sharply curtailed these procedures,” Bailey continued, “it’s time for the United States to course-correct.”

Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, and the American Civil Liberties Union are among the pro-trans activist groups criticizing the rule and warning of potential legal action. They argue that Bailey’s rule is “distorted” and “misleading” and cite endorsements of “gender-affirming care” by the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Gender-affirming care” is a carefully chosen phrase to denote treatment that includes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change surgeries, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

On March 20, Bailey had issued a temporary rule that established stringent parameters for minors receiving “gender-affirming care,” but the rule was scheduled to expire in September. The new rule will be enforced from April 27, 2023, and will expire on February 6, 2024.

“Even Europe recognizes that mutilating children for the sake of a woke, leftist agenda has irreversible consequences, and countries like Sweden, Norway, and the United Kingdom have all sharply curtailed these procedures,” Bailey said in March. “I am dedicated to using every legal tool at my disposal to stand in the gap and protect children from being subject to inhumane science experiments.”

Even Europe recognizes that mutilating children for the sake of a woke, leftist agenda has irreversible consequences, and countries like Sweden, Norway, and the United Kingdom have all sharply curtailed these procedures.

— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) March 20, 2023