By Rick Francis
My Industrial Hemp bill, HB202, was passed out of the Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Senate Committee with all in favor vote of 6-0.
I introduced my Hemp Extract bill, HB644, in the Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Senate Committee public hearing. A representative from the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services testified in favor of the bill.
My ATM Smash and Grab bill, HB643, was voted do pass with a unanimous vote of 7-0 from the Rules, Legislative Oversight committee.
Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act (HB 419)
We took action in the House this week to approve legislation I think will protect Missouri’s children from unnecessary and harmful sex change drugs and surgeries.
This bill will prohibit health care providers from performing gender transition surgery on young people under the age of 18. The act also prohibits a health care provider from prescribing or administering cross-sex hormones or puberty blocking drugs for the purpose of a gender transition for anyone under the age of 18.
This is just common sense for me. You think about smoking cigarettes, purchasing alcohol, gambling, consenting to sexual activity. There are a number of substances and activities that we as a society agree that children should not be exposed to and involved in because they have not developed yet to the point cognitively where they can fully understand the life-altering consequences of decisions that they may be making.
Yes, gender dysphoria is real. It is not something that has been made up. It is a real condition that children do suffer from. Children that are dealing with and struggling with gender dysphoria need help. They need help and they do not need to be harmed. I have family members who are medical professionals and I’ve heard them say the first duty of medicine is do no harm.
The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Save Women’s Sports Act (HB 183)
This week we also gave initial approval to legislation meant to promote fairness in competition and opportunity for female student athletes.
This bill will prohibit public school districts and charter schools from allowing students grade six to 12 and public and private postsecondary educational institutions from allowing any student to compete in an athletics competition designated for the opposite sex, as determined by the student’s official birth certificate. The bill also makes it clear a female student may be allowed to compete in an athletics competition designated for male students if there is no such athletics competition for female students offered.
Again, common sense tells us, biological males are bigger, they are stronger, and they are faster. The majority of women simply cannot compete. Years of competing against biological males will wipe out female sports as we know it. We must protect the gains women have made in the last 50 years.
The legislation specifies that any school district, charter school, or private school that violates the provisions of the bill will have a portion of their state funding withheld by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The legislation now requires a final vote in the House before moving to the Senate.
Direct Access for Physical Therapy (SB 51)
Legislation now on its way to the governor’s desk would give Missourians direct access to physical therapy. The Missouri House gave final approval to SB 51 to allow physical therapy visits without the need for an appointment with a physician.
This legislation would allow physical therapists with a doctorate of physical therapy or five years of clinical experience to evaluate and initiate treatment on a patient without a prescription or referral from an approved healthcare provider. The bill also states physical therapists must refer to an approved health care provider patients with certain conditions, including those with conditions beyond the scope of practice of physical therapy, as well as any patient who does not demonstrate measurable or functional improvement within ten visits or 30 days, whichever occurs first.
This legislation allows Missourians to have direct access to physical therapists. Currently, patients must visit a physician before they can make an appointment with a physical therapist. This costs the patient additional money and delays them from returning to their life before the injury.
The bill now moves to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.
Rick Francis is in the Missouri House of Representatives and resides over District 145.
