St Louis Children’s Hospital will no longer perform sex changes on minors

In a letter to staff obtained by The Post Millennial, Dr. David H Perlmutter, the executive vice chancellor for medical affairs of Washington University’s School of Medicine told staff at the center that following a review, “We have now reached a point where we can no longer continue to operate the center in the same way.”

He specifically cited “Missouri's newly enacted law regarding transgender care” that has “created a new legal claim for patients who receive these medications as minors. This legal claim creates unsustainable liability for healthcare professionals and makes it untenable for us to continue to provide comprehensive transgender care for minor patients without subjecting the university and our providers to an unacceptable level of liability.”

“For this reason, we have made the difficult decision to no longer allow Washington University physicians to prescribe puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to minors for purposes of gender transition.”

Pearlmutter did note that the transgender center “…will continue to offer other services including education and mental health support for all patients and medical care for patients over the age of 18.”

Earlier this year, the Republican-controlled Missouri legislature passed two bills, one which banned sex changes for minors and prohibited biological men from competing in women's sports.

The legislation was signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike Parson and bans giving minors puberty blockers, hormones, and sex change surgery. It also blocks prisoners and inmates from receiving surgical sex changes. Additionally, the bill prevents Medicaid from covering the cost of these surgeries in the entire state.

In April, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey signed an emergency order placing restrictions on experimental sex changes following an investigation into the whistleblower accusations of malpractice at the center.