Judge Partly Blocks Texas 'Child Abuse' Probes on Trans Medical Care
issued a temporary restraining order that stops the investigation of a family who filed a lawsuit challenging the policy. Judge Amy Clark Meachum’s order applies only to this family, but she scheduled a hearing for March 11 on the question of applying it more broadly.Abbott, a far-right Republican, last week put out a letter to the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services directing the agency to investigate gender-affirming care for minors as a form of child abuse.
He cited a nonbinding legal opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defining the provision of such care as abuse. Texas legislators last year considered but failed to pass a bill that contained that definition.A DFPS employee, identified in the suit under the pseudonym Mary Doe, said the agency had already begun to investigate her family.
She, her husband, and their transgender teen daughter filed the lawsuit Tuesday, with representation by the American Civil Liberties Union, its Texas affiliate, and Lambda Legal.Abbott is named as a defendant in the suit, as is the DFPS and its commissioner, Jaime Masters.
The suit alleges that Abbott’s order was issued without proper authority, in violation of the Texas Administrative Procedures Act, the separation of powers requirements of the Texas Constitution, and the constitutional rights of trans youth and their parents.“We are relieved that — at least for now — the threat of a child abuse investigation is no longer hanging over the heads of the family members in this case,” Paul Castillo, Lambda Legal senior counsel, said in a press release. “It is unconscionable for DFPS to still pursue any investigation or inflict more trauma and harm.
