Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. (Photo via Abbott’s Facebook page)
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies Feb. 22 to investigate reports of gender-affirming care on minors, following an official opinion from state Attorney General Ken Paxton that called the treatment a form of “child abuse” under Texas law.
In a letter to the Department of Family and Protective Services, Abbott cited Paxton’s opinion, writing, “A number of so-called ‘sex change’ procedures constitute child abuse under existing Texas law.” He added that because the DFPS is “responsible for protecting children from abuse, I hereby direct your agency to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of any reported instances of these abusive procedures in the State of Texas.”
Abbott targeted a “wide variety of elective procedures” in his letter, including gender-affirming surgery and reversible puberty blockers.
“Texas law imposes reporting requirements upon all licensed professionals who have direct contact with children who may be subject to such abuse, including doctors, nurses, and teachers, and provides criminal penalties for failure to report such child abuse,” Abbott wrote.
It is unclear what the immediate effect of the order will have on transgender and nonbinary children in the state, but LGBTQ advocates warn it could be devastating.
A spokesperson for the DFPS told the Dallas Morning News that it will “follow Texas law as explained [by Paxton’s opinion],” adding that “there are no pending investigations of child abuse involving the procedures described in that opinion.”
However, Christian Menefee – a county attorney who represents the DFPS in civil child abuse cases in Harris County, Texas – said in a tweet that his “office won’t be participating in this political game.”
“We’ll continue to follow the laws on the books—not @KenPaxtonTX’s politically motivated and legally wrong ‘opinion,’” he added.
Menefee serves as the elected, top civil lawyer for Texas’ largest county, Harris County, leading an office of 250 attorneys and staff members.
.@GovAbbott As the lawyer who represents DFPS in civil child abuse cases in Harris County, I can tell you my office won’t be participating in this political game. We’ll continue to follow the laws on the books—not @KenPaxtonTX’s politically motivated and legally wrong ‘opinion’ https://t.co/cJdaYE7uC3
— Christian D. Menefee (@CDMenefee) February 22, 2022
Abbott copied several other Texas agencies in his letter, including the state’s Health and Human Services Commission, Medical Board and Juvenile Justice Department.
Abbott’s letter came hours after Paxton’s opinion, equating gender-affirming surgery to “genital mutilation.”
“Targeting trans youth, their parents, and their health care providers for political gain is unconscionable. We strongly denounce this alarmist and misguided opinion which could obstruct access to medically necessary care,” Walter Bouman, PhD, MD, President, World Professional Association for Transgender Health, told the Blade in an emailed statement.
LGBTQ advocates in Texas were outraged over both Paxton’s opinion and Abbott’s letter, calling it “disinformation, being spread about transgender people and their healthcare.”
“Since the beginning of the 2021 legislative session, anti-LGBTQ+ politicians, including the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general have sought to lay the groundwork to turn Texans against their LGBTQ+ neighbors through an onslaught of harmful legislation, inflammatory rhetoric and discredited legal opinions,” Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas, told the Blade in a statement. “They have found it politically advantageous to spread lies about and villainize LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender people, grossly mischaracterizing our lives to paint us as scary caricatures that need to be feared, all in service of securing their re-elections.”
The moves by Abbott and Paxton come after unsuccessful attempts to ban gender-affirming care from Texas legislators last year.
Many major medical organizations – including the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Academy of Pediatrics – support age-appropriate, individualized gender-affirming care for minors.
Nearly 14,000 Texans between the ages of 13 and 17 identify as trans, according to the William’s Institute at UCLA.
