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.
Texas Judge Blocks Investigations of More Families with Trans Children
ruling, Meachum said the PFLAG families have demonstrated a likelihood that they will suffer “probably, imminent, and irreparable injury” if the state Department of Family and Protective Services is allowed to continue with its investigations into transgender youth receiving doctor-recommended medical care and their parents.Some of that harm includes potentially having transgender youth taken out of their parents’ custody and placed into foster care, as well as the parents potentially facing criminal charges and penalties.
Meachum also found that DFPS did not begin investigating gender-affirming care as child abuse until after Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order directing the agency to investigate parents who have allowed their children to receive transition-related care, including puberty blockers, which delay the onset of secondary sex characteristics.Abbott based that order on an opinion issued by Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who stated that that all the forms of surgical and hormonal interventions for transgender youth constitute “abuse,” and violate minors’ fundamental right to procreation by subjecting them to treatments that can potentially cause sterilization.Although DFPS began investigating several families with transgender children following Abbott’s directive, the Texas Supreme Court later found, in a partial victory for a group of transgender plaintiffs and advocates, that the governor had overstepped his authority.
