Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed state agencies to carry out investigations into the use of gender-affirming care for transgender youth, following an opinion issued last Friday from the state attorney general that the treatments constitute a form of “child abuse.”
The Republican governor referenced Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s opinion, which states gender-affirming treatments like gender reassignment surgery and puberty-blocking meds “can legally constitute child abuse under several provisions” of state law, in a letter sent Tuesday to the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS).
The agency, Abbott wrote in his letter, “is responsible for protecting children from abuse.” In a tweet, he added that it will “refer for prosecution any such abuse.”
A spokesperson for the DFPS told the Dallas Morning News that it “will follow Texas law as explained [by Paxton’s opinion].”
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Abbott added that doctors, nurses, teachers and the general public are obliged to report such “child abuse,” and that failure to do so is a punishable crime.
The move is the latest attack on trans youth in Texas. Last October, Abbott signed a law banning transgender girls from playing on female sports teams in public schools. The state has also tried to restrict trans people from using their preferred gender restrooms.
To be clear, major medial institutions including the American Academy of Pediatrics do not agree with Paxton’s opinion. Some state and county attorneys have already said they will not follow Abbott’s order.
“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,” Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee tweeted.
Harris County Attorney Menefee Responds to Governor Abbott’s and General Paxton’s New Policy Banning Healthcare For Transgender Children pic.twitter.com/A312YUWkV1
— The Harris County Attorney, Christian D. Menefee (@HarrisCountyAO) February 22, 2022
Response to Abbott’s action can be summed up with one word: “monster.”
Greg Abbott is a monster. https://t.co/dMjSMgD3C8
— Samuel Deats (@SamuelDeats) February 23, 2022
Greg Abbott is a fucking monster. People have the right to be trans.
It's people like him that are ruining lives. Fucking disgusting. https://t.co/p148QnnTZx
— KLONOA IS BACK!!!! (@TommoTheCabbit) February 23, 2022
Greg Abbott really just decided that he wanted his soul condemned to a thousand eternities of torment and suffering pic.twitter.com/5ipBUJntEj
— ???????h?????l??? – check bio for HRT info! (@bobposting) February 23, 2022
Every reporter in the last decade that treated Greg Abbott like a reasonable human being and not a sociopath should break out the sack cloth and ashes today. https://t.co/Ab1dT2RFqr
— Richard Whittaker (@YorkshireTX) February 23, 2022
What Greg Abbott is doing in Texas will absolutely get people killed. He doesn’t care. It’s going to kill kids, and they want to do the same thing here, it’s their end goal, not “just asking questions”. It’s outright murder. There’s no reasoning with these people.
— James Moran (@jamesmoran) February 23, 2022
Greg Abbott is a monster. https://t.co/Maen4PlLPR
— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) February 23, 2022
Wow, just when you thought he couldn’t get any worse…Greg Abbott is a ghoul. My heart is with the families that are effected by this heinous order. #protecttranskids
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) February 23, 2022
This is absolutely MONSTROUS.
Also a reminder that Greg Abbott has Musk's rubber stamp for rolling back rights in Texas: "Elon consistently tells me that he likes the social policies in the state of Texas." https://t.co/YPiv3469oB
— Slade (@Slade) February 23, 2022
would probably go to jail if I tweeted how I feel about Greg Abbott https://t.co/g4pYIM861Z
— Kim McCauley (@lgbtqfc) February 23, 2022
Greg Abbott & Ron DeSantis are in a race to see who can be a bigger monster. States with laws designed to promote violence & hate on vulnerable communities of young people should be boycotted at all cost. Skip the gigs in TX & FL, folks.
— NoelCaslerComedy (@caslernoel) February 23, 2022
What Republican Greg Abbott is doing in Texas for political points will hurt so many young people. It is nothing short of repulsive. He must be voted out.
— Stephen Groves (@stephengrovesjr) February 23, 2022
Greg Abbott is a monster. The cruelty of this is just despicable. He — and the far-right GOP who crave this sort of inhumanity — *must* be stopped. https://t.co/UrrRYd0L7z
— Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer) February 23, 2022
Jim
You can put your money where your mouth is and contribute to the campaign of Beto O’Rourke!!!
Mister P
If everyone who is eligible to vote in Texas actually votes we can get rid of these monsters. The LGBTQ community needs to vote in force.
ShiningSex
The South is disgusting and glad I left there.
Thad
I’m visiting Dallas now. There’s some outrage here. Loving parents who get appropriate medical care for their kids are NOT child abusers, no matter what Abbott says.
Texas has a primary election now, you know.
Phillip
What is this bully’s problem that he needs to go after children?
Did someone kick over his wheelchair? Damn! He needs to be removed from office!
Fahd
As George W. Bush would say, “that’s some crazy shit”. Where’s the ACLU when you need them? Personally, I don’t tread on Texas, because I don’t ever go there (on purpose). My heart goes out to those who because of whatever cruel twist of fate must reside there.
David
I visited gay friends in Texas, Houston to be specific. That’s the last time I will set foot in that state. I wish President General Antonio López de Santa Anna had done his job properly. I rather deal with a Mexican government than the Neo-Nazis in charge in Texas at this point in history.
Texas should secede from the union and we as a nation should cut off their social security, medicare, Fema and any government programs that cost us federal tax payer money. Let them secede and apply for foreign aid. See how their citizens really like being their own country.
tjack47
I’m an LGBTQ+ native Texan. I’m disabled. I care for a parent who has aged into the social security system. We both have Medicare. We’re liberal Democrats. We need support and recognition for our efforts. We’re voting for Beto.
SamB
Kids are too young to know truly know themselves. They need time to grow and learn and experience. An adult who decides they’re trans can do whatever they want, but a kid cannot make that decision.
Jessie Nice
Thank you for telling the truth to these people. It’s truly disgusting that a grown adult will try to pressure and bully a young child into becoming “woke and trendy” for the self pleasure and comfort of an adult with severe sexual issues. Children do not comprehend such egregious actions. If a car rental company will not allow a person over the age of 25 to rent a vehicle without strong insurance and if the government won’t allow those to smoke and drink until 21+ than no child should be forced to take harmful medicine and dangerous and irreversible procedures.
Cam
Funny, when a 13 year old boy gets caught looking at straight porn NOBODY says “Oh, maybe he’ll grow out of it, kids don’t know themselves.”
Yet whenever a kid announces their LGBTQ we hear the same B.S. of “Oh, it’s a phase, kids don’t know themselves.
As always, your troll game is sad and weak.
And as ALWAYS you bring in a new screename to back yourself up. Welcome to your new screename @Jessie Nice.
barryaksarben
You troll you have no idea how hard it is for gay or tran kids to begin with and now you enjoy this horrible bill. I knew I was gay at 5 and hid it from everyone including my parents which led to therapy later in life but be sure I was NOT the bully in school it was straight boys like you and the straight girls like the troll under your response. Loving parent TAKE care of their children. My gay friend had a child who just got married to a woman and was never preasurred to be gay or trans by his father or his lesbian mothers. You have NO REAL LIFE experience with this and neither does that dumb b*tch below you
Halfnhalf
I first had gender Dysphoria when I was 3 years old. You’re talking B.S. People are born Transgender.
SamB
Barry: A parent could be supportive of the child without giving any kind of altering procedures. What a kid knows at 10, 14 etc is not what the kid knows once they are an adult. At that point they are free to do what they want.
Halfnhalf: That is your experience and I believe you, but you can’t say that your experience is the same as everyone else’s. I’ve read articles where people realized they were trans later in life, and articles where people who did start transitioning young, realizing they are not trans. I just think kids are not the best communicators nor do they really know what they want at times. Parents should be supportive but I think any kind of procedure that could leave a permanent impact should not be overtaken until the person is at least an adult.
inbama
Every study has shown that 8 out of 10 cases of childhood GD come to understand they are simply gay and lesbian after puberty. Chemically castrating everybody is madness.
Eternal.Cowboy
“Chemically castrating everybody is madness.”
Which is why it isn’t done.
GlobeTrotter
I have kinda of a mixed opinion regarding this topic. Most children with gender dysphoria require no treatment whatsoever, and 75% of them will simply outgrew their gender dysphoria as they become young adults. The majority of those that outgrow their gender dysphoria become homosexual men (GD mostly affects boys), and very small percentage become transsexual. There are reports from the UK of young children who were given the green light by their doctors and psychologists for gender reassignment surgery, but who now regret that decision as adults.
While I think most children are probably not mature enough to understand the repercussions of gender reassignment surgery (just like they’re not capable of giving consent for sex), I also think it’s overkill to prosecute parents for doing what they think is best for their children. I’m sure we can find a middle of the road approach, but allowing children to take puberty blockers or have gender reassignment surgery seems can definitely do more harm than good, if it turns out later that they were just going through a fashionable phase.
By the way, there’s plenty of evidence to indicate that the current popularity of non-binary, trans phenomena is simply a modern fad. First of all, gender dysphoria mostly affects young boys at a very early age. Nowadays however, it’s mostly teenage girls without any history of gender dysphoria that are suddenly declaring themselves trans and non-binary.
Jessie Nice
Thank you Gov. Abbott! Proud to be from Texas! It’s about time we as a society stand up and fight back against the disgusting and abusive mentally ill woke mob! No child let alone a full functioning transsexual adult is comprehensively aware of the serious damage that these medicine and transitional surgeries have on the mind and body. The countless stories and regrets from trans people have and share on the after affects of such grand procedures is alarming, yet the disgusting woke mob tries to shut those people down because it doesn’t follow their abusing and illicit agenda. If people aren’t allowed to drink and smoke until 21 than no young adult let alone A CHILD should be forced to take such truly disgusting actions by the people that they rely to take “care” of them. Allowing such disgusting actions to take place should be criminal and I thank Gov. Abbott for setting this law into motion. These “woke” child predators who allow a child to “transition” at such a young and early age should face harsh criminal punishment and should go onto some sort of list and have their kids taken away. It’s truly disgusting that people try to force a certain identity and sexuality onto kids all for the pleasure and security of being woke. Just like how some people choose to be gay or bisexual, children should be made to choose their own ideology at 21+ when it comes to these types of matter.
Cam
Blah Blah Blah Blah, anti-LGBTQ troll makes bigoted comment, blah blah blah blah.
I see you’re going to be using this screename for a while. You might want to tone it down, you’ll exhaust. yourself.
Halfnhalf
You don’t know anything about Trans people. I first had gender dysphoria when I was 3, and it doesn’t go away. There is growing evidence that trans people have brains that don’t align with their bodies. They also discovered in a DNA study that this appears to be GENETIC. The trans people in the study had variants of genes which affect brain sexing., None of the cis people in the study had any of the variants. A larger study is going on which will prove this. No children get surgery. The care of trans children is tightly regimented and the care of the child is of upmost concern.
Eternal.Cowboy
Weird. We are going to stop medical professionals from treating patients based on the recommended course of care in order to stop child abuse.
But unnecessary procedures that amount genital mutilation in the form of circumcision are totally okay. And Conversation Therapy, which has been designated psychology abuse is not only legal in the state of Texas but recommended under the GOP platform.
kish
It’s too bad that tree didn’t finish the job.
Mack
Reading an article by Rick Scott and what’s happening in Florida and Texas the Republican party is doubling down on nazism. They yell “socialism” while heading full force into nazism. Personally I think it’s time for the LGBTQ community to start arming themselves for what’s coming.
Eternal.Cowboy
“ A parent could be supportive of the child without giving any kind of altering procedures.”
So you don’t know what gender affirming care is or what the standard treatment is for minors is. Because “altering procedures” isn’t it but despite not knowing what the actual recorded care is you feel qualified to say what treatment should be.
Maybe you should start with something easier like leaning how to correctly count the number of paragraphs in a statement or the different between a court filing and a report and let medical professionals do their job.
johncp56
Monster is being kind, what a creepy entitled scum bag!! backward book burning state of voters,
IvanPH
Kids and teenagers should not be allowed to undergo irreversible medical procedures. That includes hormone therapy. Just search on YouTube the countless number of women who regret taking testosterone when they were teenagers because they thought they were trans men. Their voices got so deep that it became impossible to detransition back to their normal woman’s voice. Let kids be kids.
Eternal.Cowboy
Most uses of hormone therapy aren’t for trans people. And this will blow your mind to find out but cis gendered kids can have have health issues related to hormones as well. Kids can also have fairly mundane irreversible medical procedures like wisdom teeth removal. But you are going to bar all of that because you saw a YouTube video of a girl with a deep voice? Maybe you shouldn’t leave medical advise to actual medical professionals or anyone that isn’t dumb enough to base their medical opinions on YouTube.
BTW, use of hormone therapy is rarely used to treat gender dysphoria in minors. In most instances it actually resolves itself. It’s use in minors is for particularly extreme cases. That is what this so vile. It does nothing to protect kids and causes harm to the most vulnerable. But screw then right? You watched YouTube.
BDAguy
Gov. Abbot and AG Paxton have chosen the most expedient route to re-election by the 4% of tax s who bother to vote in primaries: pandering to the ignorance and primitive beliefs of the tiny electorate who turns out in primaries… guess what: it works. Texas is a state with extraordinary people, optimism and opportunity but until all of the liberal, open-minded folk in the urban and suburban areas bother to get off their backsides and actually vote then one can only assume that the hateful, venal, morally bankrupt politicians who comprise the Texas government are exactly what most Texans want.
Bdavid
Isn’t it ironic how both Texas and Florida had some of the highest cases of Covid because they said mask mandates and vaccine mandates violate their civil rights and are UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Oh but wait if you are a woman and get Pregeant your body is no longer yours to make a decision because abortion is murder and they will enact laws to prevent it. They get their ideas from the magical fairy tale book the Bible! They try and try not to hard to be like Jesus because we all know that Jesus would shun the trans children. I seem to remember Jesus helped the sick and the hungry and the naked and the prostitutes! The GQP is nothing like that and they are not anywhere close to being Christian! What we need to do is vote these hateful people with their hateful rhetoric out of office! Oh and Abbott has bigger issues with his power grid that he allowed companies to gouge customers so he and his goons could get rich! He’s a selfish, racist hateful man that doesn’t need to be in power!!