A Missouri state Senate committee advanced legislation Monday that would prohibit people under 18 from accessing gender transition surgeries, puberty blockers, or hormone therapy, teeing it up for consideration by the full upper chamber.

The Senate Emerging Issues Committee approved Senate Bill 49, known as the “Missouri Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act” or the SAFE Act, in a 5-2 vote, with Republicans voting in favor. The bill would prohibit healthcare providers from providing or referring minors for "gender transition procedures," according to the bill's text. Under the bill, any physician that violates this may be subject to discipline from their professional licensing board.

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"I don’t have anything against transgender kids. I don’t have anything against transgender adults. But in my mind, we have to protect the kids,” said state Sen. Denny Hoskins (R) at a committee meeting last week discussing the bill, according to the Missouri Independent. “These kids are not old enough to make these decisions for themselves.”

The Senate's latest version of the legislation includes an exemption for any procedure provided because an individual "suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the individual in imminent danger of death or impairment of a major bodily function."

Republican lawmakers removed that exemption from a similar bill moving through the state House after some lawmakers expressed concerns it could be used as a loophole for health providers to continue offering the procedures for minors.

It's unclear when the bill might be up for debate in front of the full Senate, though the exemption is likely to be a part of the discussion.

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The Senate committee's vote follows a recent whistleblower report alleging that the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital does not follow protocols for treating minors suffering from gender dysphoria. Jamie Reed, a former staff member at the center, alleged that it regularly referred minors for gender transition surgeries and offered minors suffering from mental health issues puberty blockers or hormone therapy.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) last week called for the center to stop authorizing puberty blockers for people under 18.