BCLP team secures order blocking Missouri Attorney General’s Transgender Health Care Emergency Rule

A Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) litigation team filed a petition seeking a temporary restraining order to block implementation of the Missouri Attorney General’s Emergency Rule that would effectively restrict all evidence-based gender-affirming care for Missourians of all ages. The lawsuit, Southampton Community Healthcare v. Bailey, was filed on behalf of Southampton Community Healthcare, Kelly Storck, Logan Casey and the families of two young transgender people. The Emergency Rule was scheduled to take effect on April 27, but the BCLP team was able to secure a temporary restraining order after extensive briefing and oral argument.

BCLP filed the petition in partnership with Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri. The petition names Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who filed the Emergency Rule on April 13 seeking to impose restrictions on gender-affirming care for people of all ages who live in the state. The petition alleges that, among other things, Attorney General Bailey does not have the legislative authority to make new law through the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act and that the Emergency Rule does not satisfy Missouri’s emergency rulemaking provisions.

“The emergency rule was an end-run around the legislative process,” noted Jim Lawrence, who co-leads this BCLP pro bono litigation team. “Imposing such broad restrictions on health care for Missourians, including adults, on just thirteen days’ notice is an affront to good governance and evidence-based health care.”

Gender-affirming care is supported by overwhelming scientific evidence, decades of clinical experience and the medical consensus of major medical organizations across the United States, noted Lambda Legal, a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of LGBTQ people and those living with HIV.

The BCLP trial team includes lawyers Jim Lawrence (Co-Lead), Ben Clark (Co-Lead), Michael Rowan, Nathan Puckett, Mary Grace Warren and TJ Briggs with further assistance provided by Mark Deiermann and Jason Meyer from the firm’s St. Louis and Kansas City offices.