Plaintiffs were challenging the block on gender-affirming health care, ahead of a US Supreme Court case next month.

JEFFERSON CITY — A Missouri judge on Monday upheld a 2023 state law that prohibits physicians from providing hormone treatment and puberty blockers to transgender youth. The $570 million project, which received incentives Tuesday from both the city and state, has strong backing from the federal government.

A circuit judge left in place Missouri's law banning gender-affirming care for minors after a nine-day trial in the case Noe v. Parson.

A 74-page ruling backs state’s argument defending law that has blocked transgender Missourians from accessing gender-affirming health care,

The judge also suggested that treating gender dysphoria could be a slippery slope to depriving the Missouri legislature of its ability to regulate drugs.