AUSTIN, Texas (LifeSiteNews) – The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has declared that performing transgender surgeries on children constitutes child abuse and could lead to prosecution.
“Genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery is child abuse, subject to all rules and procedures pertaining to child abuse,” DFPS commissioner Jaime Masters wrote Wednesday in a letter to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The governor had asked Masters last week to review whether transgender surgeries could be classified as abuse against minors.
“As you have described, this surgical procedure physically alters a child’s genitalia for non-medical purposes potentially inflicting irreversible harm to children’s bodies,” Masters wrote to Abbott. “Generally, children in the care and custody of a parent lack the legal capacity to consent to surgical treatments, making them more vulnerable.”
Professionals with “cause to believe” that a child has suffered abuse are obliged under Texas law to contact DFPS within two days after first suspecting abuse, Masters continued. “Failure to report is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $4,000, or both,” he said, adding that intentionally concealing child abuse is a jail felony.
“Finally, allegations involving genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery will be promptly and thoroughly investigated and any appropriate actions will be taken,” Masters said.
Gov. Abbot said Wednesday on Twitter that the department’s directive and “subsequent enforcement” are “effectively immediately.”
In a letter last Friday, Abbott called on DFPS to make a determination on whether “genital mutilation of a child for purposes of gender transitioning” constitutes child abuse. “Subjecting a child to genital mutilation through reassignment surgery creates a ‘genuine threat of substantial harm from physical injury to the child,’” he wrote.
Abbott said that the “definition of ‘abuse’ should cover a surgical procedure that will sterilize the child, such as orchiectomy or hysterectomy, or remove otherwise healthy body parts, such as penectomy or mastectomy.” The state already bans genital mutilation of girls, he noted.
The Abbott administration’s effective ban on mutilating transgender surgeries for kids comes after multiple bills to prohibit the devastating, medically unfounded procedures failed in the Texas legislature this year. Legislation passed by state senators that would have barred both transgender surgeries and drugs for minors ultimately died in the Texas House during the regular session, despite the backing of dozens of co-sponsors.
In 2019, LifePetitions launched a similar petition on behalf of Jeff Younger (the father) and his son James, asking for support and for the Texas state authorities to intervene in a unbelievable case in which the Dallas courts keep flip-flopping over which parent has parental rights and, ultimately, whether or not James must be forced to live as a girl and suffer the trauma of so-called gender "transitioning," as his mom believes he is a girl.
Incredibly, we now seem to be back at square one.
Jeff Younger currently has a gag order put on him, which prohibits him to speak out in defense of his son. But, because he has recently decided to ignore that order, to save his son from irreversible surgery, this brave Dad now faces possible arrest.
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition which does two things: 1) Supports Jeff Younger (again, the Dad) in his fight to save his son, James, from so-called gender "transitioning;" and, 2) Calls on Texas' Attorney General to intervene in this case and quash the gag order against Mr. Younger.
CLICK HERE to WATCH the latest LifeSite interview with Jeff Younger. Hear about the latest developments with his son, as well as the real dangers of gender reassignment surgery and other “transititioning” methods.
Currently, even though he shares 50/50 parental rights to James, which has allowed him to stop the chemical castration of his son, Jeff’s ex-wife recently sued to have full parental rights and to "give her sole medical and psychological decision making."
Jeff is also being threatened with jail time from the gag order, which he believes was intentionally done to stop him from helping pass legislation in Texas to ban sex-change surgeries for minors.
Jeff says that the gag order "prohibits me from speaking on all manner of political topics. And I’m not even allowed to tell you in that gag order whether my son’s a boy or girl."
But Jeff is speaking out, no matter what, because of the real danger that his son is in if he undergoes "transition" surgery.
Indeed, so-called gender "transitions" present many unsafe effects, some desired, some undesired, though all dangerous for one's physical and mental health.
Puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones have not been proven safe. For example, the FDA has NOT approved Lupron and GnRH analogues for use in blocking puberty.
Risks associated with these pharmaceuticals include: low bone density, high blood pressure, weight gain, abnormal glucose tolerance, breast cancer, liver disease, thrombosis, and cardiovascular disease.
And, additional risks and potential harms include:
For Males: Stunting of penile and testicular growth, sexual dysfunction, prevention of spermatogenesis, and disruption of normal brain and bone development.
For Females: A menopause-like state, blockade of normal breast development, decreased blood flow to vagina and vulva, sexual dysfunction, thinning of vaginal epithelium, vaginal atrophy, prevention of menses/ovulation, and disruption of normal brain and bone development.
In other words, these medications can sterilize and cause medical harm to vulnerable, confused children.
And, the stunning part about this: studies show that 85% of gender confused children eventually become comfortable with the sex of their bodies.
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition which supports Jeff Younger, a Texas Dad, who is fighting to prevent his son, James, from being "turned into a girl." At the same time, we appeal to Texas State Attorney General, to intervene in this case and quash the gag order against Jeff.
Thank you!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'Save James: Father risks arrest to save 9-year-old son from forced gender-transition': https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/save-james-father-risks-arrest-to-save-9-year-old-son-from-forced-gender-transition
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE DANGERS OF PUSHING GENDER IDEOLOGY ON CHILDREN:
Many eminent psychiatrists are now speaking against the faulty notion that sex is fluid and a matter of choice. In particular, they are concerned about the welfare of children and young people in this regard.
Dr Paul McHugh, former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins University, who has researched the occurrence of gender dysphoria for 40 years, has stated that the notion of gender fluidity "is doing much damage to families, adolescents, and children and should be confronted as an opinion without biological foundation wherever it emerges". [See more below.]
And, the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) is definite about the promotion of transgenderism as being harmful public policy:
"Human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait: 'XY' and 'XX' are genetic markers of health – not genetic markers of a disorder. The norm for human design is to be conceived, either male or female…Conditioning children into believing that a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse. Endorsing gender discordance as normal via public education and legal policies will confuse children and parents…” [Read more below.]
Here is what Dr Paul McHugh said on this topic: https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/johns-hopkins-psychiatrist-transgendered-men-dont-become-women-they-become
This is the ACP statement on Gender Ideology: http://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/gender-ideology-harms-children
About the medical risks associated with medical interventions to attempt to change the sex of the body: https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2020/01/59422/
About some of the unconscionable practices some medical professionals are engaged in:
Gov. Abbott has so far not moved to restrict experimental transgender drugs, like puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, and has declined to include the issue in his agendas for special legislative sessions that he has called in recent weeks.
Surgical mutilation of minors with gender dysphoria has been documented across the U.S. in recent years. A pro-transgender study published in 2018 featured more than thirty girls under eighteen subjected to mastectomies for gender dysphoria. California even requires private insurers to cover underage transgender procedures, according to the faith-based Colson Center.
Texas’s crackdown on child abuse comes amid new developments in the case of James Younger, an eight-year-old Texas boy conceived via in vitro fertilization, whose non-biological mother is suing for the right to subject him to “gender transitioning.” A family court judge last week granted the mother full custody of James, though his father, who opposes “transitioning” his son, must still sign off any transgender drugs or surgeries.
Masters’ directive makes Texas the third state to take action against transgender procedures for minors this year, following Arkansas and Tennessee. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in June that he is interested in enacting similar measures.