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 Still Investigating Trans-Supportive Families for 'Child Abuse'
offered a mixed ruling May 13 in a suit challenging Gov. Greg Abbott’s order that started the investigations. It lifted an injunction placed by a lower court on enforcement of the order while the lawsuit is heard, but it also said the policies of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services were at the discretion of that agency, not the governor.
Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton could offer advice to the DFPS, but the agency was not obligated to follow it.However, lawyers for families under investigation recently told The Texas Tribune they had been contacted by DFPS officials and told that the probes would continue. “They reached back out and said they need to finish their investigations,” attorney Tracy Harting said. “I’ve talked to my clients, and now they have to decide how they want to proceed.”In February, Abbott ordered DFPS to begin the investigations, based on a nonbinding legal opinion issued by Paxton that characterized gender-affirming care as abuse.
The opinion has been criticized as unscientific and politically biased. Abbott and Paxton are both far-right, anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans.In March, Texas Civil District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum granted a restraining order stopping the investigation of the family who filed the lawsuit, identified only as the Does, and psychologist Megan Mooney while their case is heard.
