Missouri investigates a children's hospital after a former case worker alleged the children were receiving gender-affirming care without "appropriate" mental health assessments, and Iowa introduces a bill that would penalize schools for discussing LGBT topics.

Missouri Investigates Trans Center Over its Gender-affirming Care

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced Feb. 9 that the state has started a multi-agency investigation into Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The investigation comes after a former case worker alleged children received gender-affirming care without “appropriate or accurate” mental health assessments.

The confirmation of the investigation from the attorney general’s office comes the same day that Jamie Reed, previous case worker at the facility, discussed her allegations in an op-ed published in the Free Press. The attorney’s general office had previously received a 23-page affidavit from Reed that was published on the attorney general’s website. In the affidavit, Reed alleged that staff violated the center’s own treatment guidelines.

Washington University in St. Louis, the parent institution of the Children’s Hospital, said in a statement that they are “alarmed by the allegations reported in the article published by The Free Press describing practices and behaviors the author says she witnessed while employed at the university’s Transgender Center.”

Schools Could Face Penalties for LGBT Discussions Under New Bill

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After an hour of testimony from parents, an Iowa Senate Education subcommittee recommended passage of Senate File 159, a state bill that restricts discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in school materials from kindergarten through eighth grade.

Under the bill, schools could face civil penalties between $10,000 and $50,000 for violations. The bill also stipulates that schools make parents aware of changes to students’ physical, mental or emotional well-being. It states that school policies must “reinforce the fundamental right of parents and guardians to make decisions related to the upbringing and control of the parent’s or guardian’s children.”

“Not all students, parents or families agreed with the viewpoint held by many schools regarding sexual orientation, gender identity issues,” Sen. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, said. “Therefore teaching on this subject should be left with the family at home.”