COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Wednesday urged the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners to enforce a ban on gender-affirming care for minors passed by Missouri lawmakers this month.
But Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves has already said that the ban, which has not yet been signed into law by Gov. Mike Parson, does not include criminal penalties and would be outside of the police’s jurisdiction.
Bailey, in a letter to the board Wednesday, said his demand comes after the Kansas City Council approved a resolution to declare the city a sanctuary for people seeking gender-affirming care. The move by the city council was in defiance of the transgender health care ban.
“It is the Board’s constitutional duty to enforce the law and ensure that children are protected from these dangerous, experimental gender transition interventions,” Bailey, a Republican, wrote in the letter. “As Missouri’s top legal officer, I will take any legal action necessary against the City to ensure our state laws are enforced.”
Kansas City is the only city in Missouri that does not control its police force. The department is overseen by a five-member board of police commissioners. Four are appointed by the governor while Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas fills the remaining spot.
The gender-affirming care ban passed by the legislature would ban all “gender transition procedures” for people under 18. It would allow minors to continue hormone therapy or puberty blockers if they were already prescribed them. The restrictions on hormone therapy and puberty blockers expire in 2027. The ban on gender-affirming surgeries does not expire.
It does not include criminal penalties that could be enforced by the Kansas City police. Doctors who violate the ban could lose their licenses and health care providers could face civil lawsuits.
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves emphasized this point in a statement earlier this week, saying that the police department would not be involved in enforcing the ban if it became law.
“These provisions are outside the jurisdiction of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department,” Graves said. “I want to assure Kansas City, we will continue to serve all the members of the community equitably regardless of race, ethnicity, age, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.”
Dawn Cramer, a member of the Kansas City police board, said she felt Bailey’s letter was in response to a letter that Lucas had sent to the board, urging the board to take the city’s position on the gender-affirming care ban.
Cramer said she agreed with Graves that the police did not have a role in enforcing the bill.
“I just feel like it doesn’t pertain to us,” she said. “Should the attorney general have written that? You know, I can’t really say unless he thought we were missing something.”
State Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat, in a statement criticized Bailey’s understanding of the bill.
“Sounds like Andrew Bailey needs to Google what police do instead of making them waste their time explaining to the state’s top lawyer that police handle criminal cases, not civil actions,” she said.
Heidi Schultz, a 44-year-old transgender woman from Kansas City, told The Star on Wednesday that she felt the letter was another example of Bailey using his office for political gain. Bailey had attempted to effectively ban gender-affirming care for both adults and minors through an emergency rule. He withdrew the rule last week after lawmakers approved the ban for minors.
“Bailey just seems to be a politician and looking for those little soundbites for his campaign commercials,” Schultz told The Star. “I worry about these things and that the KCPD would flip flop but it doesn’t seem like something that is serious or something that will actually happen, you know?”
Prior to signing the city council’s resolution, Lucas, who had testified against bills aimed at the trans community, wrote on Twitter that he was proud to sign the resolution.
“I am indeed proudly Baptist and look forward to proudly signing into law later today Kansas City’s declaration that it will be a safe haven in Missouri for trans rights. We love all and welcome all,” the mayor said in a tweet.
Bailey, in his letter, said board members have a legal duty to enforce the ban and all public health laws in Missouri.
Parson’s office was still reviewing bills, his spokesperson told The Star on Wednesday. Parson, a Republican, has celebrated the bill’s passage and is expected to sign the legislation. He had threatened to call lawmakers into a special session if they did not pass the ban.
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