Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton declared that all transgender minors are subject to child abuse. He also stated that his office can prosecute transgender parents and “mandatory journalists” who do not report the treatment to state officials. Republican Governor. Greg Abbott urged the state to start investigating families that give trans children puberty blocking drugs or hormones or to allow them to receive surgical treatments.
In a 13-page memo dated Feb. 18, written in response to a query from state Rep. Matt Krause (R–Fort Worth), Paxton wrote that, based on his office’s analysis, any sort of medical treatment of a trans minor, be it sex-changing surgery or puberty-blocking drugs, could constitute child abuse under Texas law.
Paxton claims that helping a child to transition could cause them psychological and physical harm and deprive the child of their “rights to procreation.” Paxton borrows from forced sterilization argument, which he cites, to argue against transmedical treatment.
However, no one believes that any child—or adult—should be exposed to these treatments against their own wishes. It is possible that trans minors are getting medical care in Texas because they have requested it. The majority of physicians in America agree that the only time a minor should be treated for trans issues is when they are 18.
Paxton’s announcement does not intend to stop surgeries from happening, as most of them aren’t. Paxton is also pursuing the removal of hormone-blocking medications and puberty-blocking drugs. DoStart while the transgender patient is still minor and you can reverse the effects. Paxton seems to have confused the issue by lumping them together to delegitimize any form of transgender medical care.
Paxton’s tweetHis memo says that the “These procedures” are tragic and monstrous. This is not an indication that “Some parents or children might be hurrying into medical treatment. Some of these treatments are hard to reverse.” This is an outright rejection of transgender medical treatment. The memo further demonstrates that certain types of genital surgical are necessary when correcting genetic diseases or cancer.
At the end of this memo is the big threat
Important to remember that any individual who believes that the welfare or physical health of a child has been negatively affected by neglect or abuse by another person must immediately report it to the Family Code. … [This]Teachers, nurses, doctors and day-care workers are all included. Failure to report in these situations is considered a crime.
Evidently this suggestion isn’t just friendly from the state attorney general. The Governor of Texas, Gov. Abbott wrote a memo to state commissioners of Department of Family and Protective Services, summarizing Paxton’s memo and ordering them to examine any parents who provide transgender medical treatment to their children. Anybody who doesn’t report it will be subject to criminal prosecution.
And what about the patients’ rights? What about the rights of patients? Paxton’s memo claims that Texas law does not allow parental consent. The Texas legislature also doesn’t provide any judicial option for the child for these treatments and procedures.
Without a Texas Legislature passing new laws, consenting to medical care for your child is impossible. It’s an interesting example of conservatism.