Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American attorney who has served as the 48th governor of Texas since January 20, 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Abbott previously served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 to 2015. He is the third governor of any U.S. state to permanently use a wheelchair. He is also the first disabled governor in Texas history.
directive from Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordering the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents of transgender children based on the presumption that they are allowing their children to receive gender-affirming medical care.Abbott issued the directive, which he justified by citing an opinion issued last week by Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) that stated that all forms of surgical and hormonal interventions for transitioning youth constitute “child abuse” because the medical treatments for gender dysphoria can cause “sterilization” and thereby violate a child’s fundamental right to procreation.But five district attorneys signed an open letter calling Abbott’s order “un-American” and an “egregious invasion of privacy.”“We are deeply disturbed by GovernorAbbott and Attorney General Paxton’s cruel directives treating transgender children’s access to life-saving, gender-affirming care as ‘child abuse,'” the letter, dated Feb.
22, reads. “We also want to be clear: we will enforce the Constitution and will not irrationally and unjustifiably interfere with medical decisions made between children, their parents, and their medical physicians.” “We will not allow the governor and attorney general to disregard Texan children’s lives in order to score political points,” the letter concluded.Signatories included District Attorneys John Creuzot of Dallas County, José Garza of Travis County, Joe Gonzales of Bexar County, Mark Gonzalez of Nueces County; and Brian Middleton of Fort Bend County.Abbott’s directive dropped just before he and Paxton were to compete in what many believed to be competitive Republican primaries, held Tuesday night.