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The probes announced Thursday by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley come as GOP lawmakers have filed more than two dozen bills directed at the LGBTQ community, including some that target gender transition therapy.

Some of those proposals have already been debated in committee hearings, potentially putting them on track to make it to the House floor for further debate, including one filed by Rep. Brad Hudson, R-Cape Fair.

His plan, which mirrors others introduced in the House and Senate, would bar health care professionals and medical facilities from gender-related care including prescribing puberty blockers or hormone treatment for individuals under 18.

The measure also would slash public funding to any institution that provides the therapy to minors and bans the state from using Medicaid dollars to reimburse any of the procedures.

Hudson said the announcements of the investigations and subsequent news coverage could bring momentum to the issue, which is being debated in Republican-controlled Legislatures across the nation.

“This kind of attention I think will only serve to help folks see that this is something we need to do something about,� Hudson said Friday.

“Whistleblowers have always had challenges to be accepted as the truth on both sides of any issue,� said Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Manchester. “Obviously whistleblowers bring up points that need to be investigated. And beyond that, I have no judgment on whether ... what she is saying is valid or not valid.

“Each side uses whistleblowers from their point of view as all they need for evidence to prove their point,� Lavender said.

Rabbi Daniel Bogard of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™ Central Reform Congregation, who testified against Hudson’s bill, said Republicans’ use of the report would cost lives.

“Missouri Republicans are defaming our Transgender Clinic in exactlythe same way they did to Planned Parenthood,� Bogard, father of a transgender child, said on Twitter. “Now they’ll use this bogus report as an excuse to ban gender-affirming care in our State. Children will die because of these soulless people.�

Bailey’s probe was announced in conjunction with the publication of allegations by Jamie Reed, 42, who said she worked at the as a case manager between 2018 and 2022. In addition to an article published Thursday by The Free Press, Reed also released by Bailey’s office containing allegations against the clinic.

She alleges in article that instead of providing mental health treatment to children who needed it, the center gave them puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones. She also alleged the center regularly referred minors for gender-transition surgery, contrary to public assurances by its doctors.

“I left the clinic in November of last year because I could no longer participate in what was happening there,� Reed wrote. “By the time I departed, I was certain the way the American medical system is treating these patients is the opposite of the promise we make to ‘do no harm.’ Instead, we are permanently harming the vulnerable patients in our care.�

Lavender said, “I do think we need to explore counseling for these children with much better depth and breadth than we do. And I want children to be safe and heard and acknowledged.

“Counseling can be very effective,� she said. “We don’t have enough counselors, we don’t have enough access, we don’t have insurance that pays pays for, the state doesn’t provide enough mental health support for our children.�

The article prompted a number of responses from Republicans, who have made transgender issues affecting a relatively small population a key plank in their platform.

“I am horrified by the allegations reported today about the Washington University Transgender Center. There must be a full investigation of these accusations and children must be protected from this reported abuse,â€� tweeted Republican U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, who represents suburban ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, also tweeted support for the investigation.

“I am not sure which is more troubling about these allegations,� he wrote. “The lack of real medical care, or the claim of child abuse via experimentation on vulnerable minors.�

PROMO, the statewide advocacy group for LGBTQ people, released a statement on the report: “Through PROMO’s work, we have heard dozens upon dozens of positive personal stories from transgender and gender non-conforming youth and families about the ethic of care they’ve received throughout their time at the Washington University Transgender Center.

“We’ve also sat in rooms with over 30 parents who have shared stories about how their children thrived when they received interdisciplinary, holistic care from a team of providers at the Center. We have no insight into these allegations and accusations from one person.�

Democrats said Bailey and Hawley were grandstanding.

“It is appropriate for the Attorney General to investigate allegations of abuse of the medical system, including those against the WashU gender clinic. It is not appropriate for the Attorney General’s office to publicize or politicize such investigations,� tweeted Rep. Sarah Unsicker, a Democrat from Shrewsbury.

Rep. Tony Lovasco, an O’Fallon Republican and member of the House General Laws Committee, which is weighing bills on transgender health care, said Friday work on the legislation was still ongoing and that the report “absolutely affects the discussion.�

“I definitely think it, you know, pivots the discussion and certainly the timing … right after we just had those hearings, we’ve got these bills that are still under consideration. It absolutely affects the discussion,� Lovasco said, pointing to a series of sometimes emotional hearings on the legislation last month.

“As far as how that affects it, I think that’s still up in the air at this point. I know they’re still working on coming to agreement as far as what … these bills will look like, if they’re going to move forward. And that’s still ongoing,� Lovasco added.

Freshman Rep. Mazzie Boyd, R-Hamilton, said Bailey, who was appointed to the position in January, “is a force to be reckoned with and I’m glad to see him investigating this.�

Boyd, who also is sponsoring a transgender therapy ban, said, “The atrocities happening at the Washington University Transgender Center at ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Children’s Hospital is exactly why my legislation, HB 463, is necessary and must be passed this session.â€�

Hudson said he didn’t think the announcement by Bailey or Hawley was part of an effort to push the legislation forward.

“If this was timed because of what the Legislature is doing, I wasn’t aware of it,� Hudson said.

Hawley said Thursday he spoke with Washington University Chancellor Andrew D. Martin and received the university’s assurance that it will “fully cooperate� with his investigation.

In a statement, Washington University said, “We are taking this matter very seriously and have already begun the process of looking into the situation to ascertain the facts.�

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Related stories:

• Families of transgender children wait, worry as Missouri lawmakers debate bills

• Whistleblower report on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ transgender clinic triggers calls for federal, state probes

• Why Jamie Reed went public with her allegations about a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ transgender clinic