OFM News: Parents of Trans Kids in Texas at Risk of Legal Action

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is calling on licensed professionals, such as doctors or family therapists, as well as members of the general public to report instances of minors receiving gender-affirming medical care.

The directive was part of a letter Abbott sent to the Department of Family and Protective Services, calling on it to “conduct a prompt and thorough investigation” of any reported instances of children undergoing “elective procedures for gender transitioning.”

The letter followed an opinion released by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton which stated that allowing minors to receive gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgery is considered child abuse under the state’s law.

Texas Legislature chose not to pass a bill last year that would make providing such care to minors a felony alongside physical and sexual abuse. Paxton’s opinion is an interpretation of an existing law, and while it cannot change the law itself, it can affect how it is enforced.

The White House, which has recently stepped up in response to anti-LGBTQ legislation, spoke out against Abbott’s directive in a statement to the Dallas Morning News.

“Conservative officials in Texas and other states across the country should stop inserting themselves into healthcare decisions that create needless tension between pediatricians and their patients,” Karine Jean-Pierre, deputy principal press secretary for the White House, tells the paper. “No parent should face the agony of a politician standing in the way of accessing life-saving care for their child.”

While supporters of restrictions on gender-affirming care argue that minors cannot consent to care that includes permanent changes to their bodies, all major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association assert that gender-affirming care is medically necessary for transgender youth and is backed by decades of research. 

The Endocrine Society, an international medical organization for the field of endocrinology which includes the study of hormones, says in a statement that Abbott’s directive “rejects evidence-based transgender medical care.”