AG Bailey goes after transgender clinic

(AP) — Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Friday called for doctors to pause giving puberty blockers and hormones to new patients at a transgender youth clinic. The call comes a day after he announced an investigation into claims that the facility rushed to give children gender-affirming care without informed consent.

Bailey publicly announced an investigation of Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital on Thursday after he said a whistleblower went public with allegations against the clinic.

The state Social Services Department, state licensing agency, Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and Washington University also are investigating.

Former case manager Jamie Reed claimed in an affidavit claimed that the center mainly provides gender-affirming care and does little to address mental health issues that patients also faced.