ST. LOUIS – Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit Friday against Attorney General Andrew Bailey after his office recently launched an investigation into the St. Louis pediatric transgender center.
Amid the investigation, Bailey contends that a whistleblower has accused the St. Louis Pediatric Transgender Center at Children’s Hospital of using experimental drugs on children, distributing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and giving children life-altering drugs without parental consent.
Planned Parenthood says that Bailey sent a Civil Investigative Demand to its St. Louis & Southwest Missouri division that contained over 50 separate demands. Planned Parenthood adds that he pursued HIPAA-protected patient health information and every document that references “social media” or “Tik Tok.”
Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, in a news release, argues that the investigation is outside the scope of the attorney general’s power and politically motivated.
Yamelsie Rordirguez, president and CEO for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, sent the following statement on the lawsuit:
“Planned Parenthood knows this playbook well, and we’ll move forward just like we have in every other sham investigation — we’ll continue providing expert and evidence-based health care while we fight in court. This investigation is what ignorance and transphobia look like, and they have no place in our exam rooms. “To our trans and non-binary patients: our doors remain open to you. We are not backing down.”
Last week, Bailey’s office proceeded with the investigation by launching an online form seeking information on what his office describe as “reports of questionable gender transition interventions.”