The Quickie: Missouri's Severe Restrictions on Gender-Affirming Care Delayed, But Threat Looms 

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: MO restrictions on gender-affirming care delayed, NE near-total ban advances, MT trans legislator censured, House debt ceiling proposal is an attack on health care, and OK’s abortion bans cause confusion and pain for patients.

MISSOURI’S SEVERE RESTRICTIONS ON GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE DELAYED UNTIL MONDAY: Last night, a St. Louis County Circuit Judge blocked extreme restrictions on gender-affirming care for trans people of all ages until Monday. The restrictions, established under an emergency rule issued by Attorney General Andrew Bailey, were set to take effect at midnight Wednesday. The judge is expected to rule Monday on whether to grant a temporary restraining order that would stop the rule from taking effect while the legal challenge, brought by Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri, continues.

Without even having gone into effect, the new rule has  caused chaos, panic, and confusion for trans people in Missouri. Many have scrambled to get last-minute appointments, establish out-of-state care, or even move out of state and away from their homes and communities. Missouri patients seen at Planned Parenthood Great Plains’ health center in Kansas City, KS, spoke with CNN about their futures under the ban: 

With no support from family, and now given the state’s actions, Andi said he relies on his self confidence and friends who have become family to help him achieve his goal.

“I feel like I’m living behind a mask all the time, but just under my whole skin feels that way,” he said.

… For Kharri, Kansas is the last affordable state where he can live and receive the medical care he needs to transition, he said. Having uprooted his life once already from Tennessee to Missouri, he said he feels like a nomad without a true home and like a refugee in his own country.

“We are terrified,” he said. “This world is terrifying. … Talk with us. Like just sit there and talk, listen to what, what we’re saying. We’re not trying to indoctrinate anyone.”

Watch the full interviews with Kharri, Andi, and PPGP’s patient navigator and nursing staff at CNN, and read more about the rule at AP. 

HAPPENING TODAY: NEBRASKA LAWMAKERS HOLD SECOND DEBATE ON NEAR-TOTAL ABORTION BAN: Today, LB 626, a bill that would outlaw abortions at six weeks of pregnancy, moves to the second of three rounds of debates in the Nebraska legislature. If passed, doctors found in violation of the ban could lose their license. 59% of Nebraskans oppose any new abortion bans and restrictions, according to a November 2022 research poll. 

Ahead of today’s debate Nebraskans continue to share their abortion stories in an effort to persuade politicians to vote against the ban. Abby Waller, a 37-year-old mother, recently told the Nebraska Examiner: 

“Under the proposed abortion ban, I would have had to wait for my baby to die on her own rather than make the choice for my body, family and mental health. Those decisions should be between a person and their doctor, not politicians.” 

In an opinion piece for the Omaha World-Herald, Kacie Ware, a survivor of sexual assault, shared that she does not believe she’d have been able to get the abortion she needed after years of abuse if a ban like LB 626 is in place.

“Failing to obtain an abortion not only would have prevented me from achieving the things that I did, but it would force me to deal with the insurmountable reality of having my own child abused by their father. You see, my rapist later went on to rape his own daughter.”

MONTANA’S FIRST & ONLY TRANS LEGISLATOR CENSURED, BARRED FROM HOUSE FLOOR FOR SUPPORTING TRANS RIGHTS: Yesterday, Montana House Republicans voted to censure Rep. Zooey Zephyr, the state’s first and only trans lawmaker, barring her from the House floor for the remainder of the legislative session. Rep. Zephyr will now only be allowed to vote remotely and cannot give speeches or attend any sessions in person — despite being elected to represent 11,000 Montanans in Helena.

“In Montana, and across the country, we have seen the most disgraceful, heartless, and targeted attacks on our LGBTQ+ community this legislative session,” Quinn Leighton, director of external affairs at Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, said. “Representative Zephyr has courageously broken barriers and spoken truth to power, all while being surrounded by colleagues who misgender and tarnish her. She has been unwavering in her advocacy for her constituents, as well as for all trans, non-binary, intersex, and two-spirit Montanans. We will not be silent and allow the Montana GOP to destroy any vestige of democracy in broad daylight.”

Read more at NBC, NPR, and the New York Times.

HOUSE DEBT CEILING PROPOSAL IS ANOTHER ATTACK ON HEALTH CARE: Yesterday, the U.S. House passed Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s proposal that puts the nation at risk of default. The legislation includes harmful cuts to health care programs, including a cruel Medicaid work requirement which would cut off access to essential safety-net care for millions of people with low incomes. Medicaid is the largest payer of sexual and reproductive health care in the country, providing coverage for a range of essential preventive and primary care, including birth control, sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment, and pre- and post-natal care. 

“Speaker McCarthy is putting our country at risk of default to once again push his agenda to strip access to essential health care — including sexual and reproductive health care — for millions of Americans,” Karen Stone, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Relations at Planned Parenthood Action Fund said. “This policy would significantly impact Black and Latino communities and people living in rural communities who already face barriers to care due to decades of racism and systemic disparities. We’re in the middle of a health care crisis and the Speaker seems determined to blow up our economy so he can take access away. 

OKLAHOMA’S ABORTION BANS CAUSE CONFUSION, HARM FOR PATIENTS: A new study by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice, and Physicians for Human Rights shows the devastating effect of Oklahoma’s abortion bans, which continue to endanger pregnant people even with so-called exceptions for life-threatening emergencies. Researchers surveyed 34 hospitals in Oklahoma and found that most hospitals could not provide any information about their policies regarding an abortion to save the pregnant person’s life. Some hospitals even claimed they would never provide an abortion. 

The consequences are harrowing. One patient interviewed by NPR shared that when she sought treatment for a cancerous molar pregnancy, the hospital denied her an abortion, leaving her with few options but to drive hours out-of-state for care. They told her, “...we cannot touch you unless you are crashing in front of us or your blood pressure goes so high that you are fixing to have a heart attack."

Read more at NPR and The Oklahoman.