Jefferson City, Missouri - Missouri's attorney general issued an emergency rule Thursday which could restrict access to gender-affirming care for minors and adults alike. The move, which may be the first of its kind nationally, has sparked outrage, with LGBTQ+ advocacy groups threatening to sue.

Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued the emergency rule on Thursday after announcing plans to restrict health care for transgender individuals weeks ago.

The rule is set to take effect on April 27 and expires in February 2024. It would prohibit medical providers from providing gender-affirming care unless stringent and unprecedented requirements are met.

The rule would require an individual, regardless of their age, to undergo 18 months of therapy before receiving gender-affirming health care. Providers would be required to prove that a patient has a "medically documented, long-lasting, persistent and intense pattern of gender dysphoria" for "at least the 3 most recent consecutive years" before seeking treatment.

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Adults with depression would be unable to receive gender-affirming care until those issues have been "have been treated and resolved."

The emergency rule has sparked backlash from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups.

In a joint statement, the ACLU and Lambda Legal promised they would take any and all necessary legal action, saying, "The Attorney General’s so-called emergency rule is based on distorted, misleading, and debunked claims and ignores the overwhelming body of scientific and medical evidence supporting this care."

The National Center for Transgender Equality called the attorney general's rule "deeply wrong" in a tweet, adding, "trans people of all ages across the state of Missouri deserve access to health care."

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The emergency rule was issued on the same day that Missouri's Republican-led House voted to ban access to gender-affirming care for minors, the Associated Press reported. It's uncertain whether the bill will make it through the Senate.

Some 13 states have enacted laws restricting or banning general-affirming care for minors in recent months, but the Missouri AG's emergency rule is the first of its kind.