Governor Greg Abbott, in accordance with an opinion from Texas AG Ken Paxton, has declared transgender drugs and surgeries as illegal child abuse. The governor has ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to launch investigations into “any reported instances of Texas children being subjected to abusive gender-transitioning procedures,”.
Abbott’s declaration requires all licensed professionals who come into contact with children, from doctors to teachers, to report any child abuse, which now includes these transgender drugs and surgeries, or face criminal punishment.
This decision comes one day after Paxton announced in an advisory opinion that transgender “sex change” practices for minors constitute child abuse under the Texas Family Code, which prohibits physical, mental, and emotional injuries to a child.
Paxton’s opinion applies to genital mutilation surgeries, mastectomies, and any other procedures that involve “removing from children otherwise healthy or non-diseased body part or tissue,”.
“Each of the ‘sex change’ procedures and treatments enumerated above, when performed on children, can legally constitute child abuse” under state law, the Republican attorney general wrote. “When considering questions of child abuse, a court would likely consider the fundamental right to procreation, issues of physical and emotional harm associated with these procedures and treatments, consent laws in Texas and throughout the country, and existing child abuse standards.”
“The Texas Family Code is clear — causing or permitting substantial harm to the child or the child’s growth and development is child abuse. Courts have held that an unnecessary surgical procedure that removes a healthy body part from a child can constitute a real and significant injury or damage to the child,” Paxton continued.
This step taken by Governor Abbott, in conjunction with AG Paxton, will help protect innocent children in the state of Texas for years to come, allowing the state to block children, lied to by modern society about their sexuality, from mutilating their bodies and their minds.