Planned Parenthood must turn over some records on transgender health care to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a judge has ruled.
Bailey, a Republican, is investigating providers of gender-affirming care in the state, which has outlawed the provision of such care to minors and certain adults. His demand for information from Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri came in March 2023 as part of his investigation of whether Washington University’s Pediatric Transgender Center or other health care entities in Missouri “have engaged in or are engaging in any practices declared to be unlawful,” as he stated in a letter to Planned Parenthood.
The Planned Parenthood affiliate then sued Bailey in an attempt to block his demand, saying it was unauthorized and that the attorney general hadn’t shown how Planned Parenthood is directly involved in his investigation. Bailey argued that his request “should stand because he has an affidavit that alleges intentional dishonesty in Plaintiff's medical and billing practices,” St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer wrote in his ruling.
Ruling in Bailey’s favor, Stelzer said the AG’s office has “broad investigative powers” and that Bailey has the right to obtain any documents that aren’t protected by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which provides for patient privacy.
Bailey issued a statement praising the ruling. “It’s a big day here in Missouri, as the Court just ordered Planned Parenthood-St. Louis to turn over documents relating to gender transition interventions they performed on minors,” he said. “My team will get to the bottom of how this clandestine network of clinics has subjected children to puberty blockers and irreversible surgery, often without parental consent. There is no more important fight than to ensure Missouri is the safest state in the nation for children. No stone will be left unturned in these investigations.”
The AG’s office won similar rulings in demands for information from Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Children’s Mercy, a hospital in Kansas City.
Planned Parenthood of St. Louis released a statement condemning Bailey’s “sham investigation” and calling it “baseless and harassing.”
“While we are grateful the court understood the Attorney General could not violate the privacy of our patients, this decision is nevertheless a deep disappointment to our providers and patients,” said Richard Muniz, interim president and CEO of the affiliate. “By allowing the Attorney General to continue his sham investigation, the court has green-lit the ongoing assault on Missourians’ health care. Gender-affirming care has been recognized as essential and lifesaving care by more than two dozen leading medical organizations; patients have no reason to have this war waged by the Attorney General against their care. Attacks like this one are what happens when politicians put politics over people — people who look, identify, and believe differently from them. … This sham investigation is a coordinated attack against transgender Missourians at a time when politicians, across many states, are systematically dismantling the right to establish one’s own gender identity. Just like abortion wasn’t banned overnight, neither will trans care. It will be systematically dismantled — little by little, starting with the most vulnerable, including young people.”
The organization is considering various legal options, he continued, while promising patients their private medical information wouldn’t be disclosed.
Before state legislators passed the ban on gender-affirming care last year, Bailey had issued an emergency rule that would have banned such care for all trans adults as well as minors. In the document laying out the policy, he said these treatments “lack solid evidentiary support” and “pose very serious side effects,” none of which is true. The care, including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery — with genital surgery recommended for adults only — is endorsed by every major medical association. He withdrew the rule when state lawmakers acted. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, signed the ban into law in June. It was quickly challenged in court, but a judge allowed it to go into effect.
