In his campaign against transgender individuals in Missouri, the Republican attorney general of Missouri won on Thursday. Planned Parenthood is required to turn over certain information requested by his office, which is looking into allegations that children were given gender-affirming medication without a proper evaluation, according to a judge’s ruling.
Planned Parenthood called Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s case a “sham investigation” and said the court “has green-lit the ongoing assault on Missourians’ healthcare” with its decision in the AG’s favor.
In his attempts to uncover wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood and other state-based companies, Bailey called it a “big day” and said “no stone will be left unturned.”
“There is no more crucial battle than making sure Missouri is the safest state in the country for kids,” Bailey said.
It wasn’t a total victory for the fighting AG. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a national law that safeguards the protection of patients, was violated by Bailey.
While calling the court’s decision a “deep disappointment,” Richard Muniz, interim president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, expressed gratitude that the court had understood the Attorney General was not infringing on the privacy of our patients.
Last month, Missouri state politicians approved legislation restricting trans treatment for minors. The rules became effective in August.
Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed that act and another banning transgender student-athletes in June, claiming he was protecting children from “harmful” problems and “nonsense.”
Bailey opened his inspection after claiming that he had been informed that the group had no way of evaluating the effectiveness of the life-altering gender transition drugs offered to children by the AG spokesperson Madeline Sieren at the time.
The investigation was conducted as part of Bailey’s wider research into the state’s gender-affirming treatment clinics, which was sparked by allegations from a former Washington University employee who worked at the Pediatric Transgender Center office that children were being pressured into getting gender-affirming care without understanding the negative effects, according to the Associated Press.
After Bailey targeted Planned Parenthood as part of his sweeping investigation, the organization sued last March, claiming the AG “failed to show how Plaintiff [Planned Parenthood] is directly involved in his investigation.”
In his determination, St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer, Bailey argued that the need should be sustained because he “has an affidavit that alleges intentional deceit in Plaintiff’s medical and billing procedures.”
The prosecutor acknowledged that Bailey’s company had a wide range of authority to look into so-called customer protection cases.
Judge Stelzer stated that the defendant is looking into potential deception by the Plaintiff regarding their billing and medical practices. There is no debate in this case that the MMPA [Missouri Merchandising Practices Act] applies, and it is evident from the act that the Defendant has the broad investigative power when the customer is in potential want of shelter.
Washington University canceled gender-affirming care for children, including grandfathered patients currently receiving puberty blockers and hormone treatment, after the state restrictions on trans treatment for minors.
The investigation into Washington University’s now-shuttered Pediatric Transgender Center continues, but, Bailey’s spokesperson said. Among the AG’s needs: the medical documents of over 1000 office people.
