LUBBOCK, Texas (Reuters) – A Texas judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a state-ordered child welfare investigation of the parents of a 16-year-old transgender girl for providing the teen gender-affirming medical treatment that Governor Greg Abbott has branded as child abuse.
Siding with the family in a lawsuit challenging a directive from Abbott, the judge found that the parents and their child “face imminent and ongoing deprivation of their constitutional rights, the potential loss of necessary medical care, and the stigma attached to being the subject of an unfounded child abuse investigation.”
The temporary restraining order issued by Travis County District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum bars the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) from pursuing the investigation until at least March 11, when the judge will hold a hearing on a request for a broader state-wide injunction.
The adolescent in question, who was designated male at birth but identifies as female, has taken puberty-delaying medications and hormone therapy as part of gender-affirming transitional medical care.
The teen’s mother is an employee of the DFPS, the agency ordered to investigate her.
The DFPS acknowledged to Reuters on Tuesday that the agency has opened at least three child welfare inquiries subject to a Feb. 22 directive from Abbott, a two-term Republican, ordering investigations of parents whose children undergo “sex change” procedures.
The governor has cited a non-binding legal opinion released on Feb. 18 by the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, in which he concluded that medical treatments used to help transgender youth transition away from their birth gender could constitute child abuse.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
