AUSTIN, Texas (LifeSiteNews) – Texas can investigate giving transgender surgeries and drugs to minors as “child abuse” according to a ruling Friday from the state’s highest court.
The Texas Supreme Court lifted a lower court’s statewide injunction preventing the Department of Family and Protective Services’ (DFPS) from investigating parents for “child abuse” if their kids take transgender drugs or have genital mutilation or other transgender surgeries.
The court ruled that since neither Governor Greg Abbott nor Attorney General Ken Paxton could require DFPS to investigate the child abuse, plaintiffs could not argue that Gov. Abbott’s February order instructing DFPS to launch the investigations was an improperly created regulation. In Texas, the secretaries of departments are not bound to follow directives from the governor or attorney general.
“DFPS does not need permission from courts to investigate, but it needs permission from courts to take action on the basis of an investigation,” the majority opinion stated. “At that stage, before issuing orders, a court would have to decide whether the child abuse investigated and alleged by DFPS qualifies as such under Texas law.”
RELATED: Swing state voters support bans on transgender surgeries for kids: new poll
A specific investigation into a 16-year-old gender dysphoric individual remains blocked pending the separate court case to stop the inquiry, according to the Austin-American Statesman.
Attorney General Paxton called the Friday ruling a victory. “Just secured a win for families against the gender ideology of doctors, big pharma, clinics trying to ‘trans’ confused, innocent children,” he tweeted. “SCOTX green-lighted investigations that lower Dem courts froze ‘Transing’ kids through surgery/drugs is abuse & I’ll do all I can to stop it.”
Just secured a win for families against the gender ideology of doctors, big pharma, clinics trying to “trans” confused, innocent children. SCOTX green-lighted investigations that lower Dem courts froze
“Transing” kids through surgery/drugs is abuse & I’ll do all I can to stop it
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) May 13, 2022
Paxton had previously written a legal opinion that argued transgender surgeries and drugs could constitute abuse of a child.
“When considering questions of child abuse, a court would likely consider the fundamental right to procreation, issues of physical and emotional harm associated with these procedures and treatments, consent laws in Texas and throughout the country, and existing child abuse standards,” he wrote.
“The Texas Family Code is clear — causing or permitting substantial harm to the child or the child’s growth and development is child abuse,” Paxton wrote. “Courts have held that an unnecessary surgical procedure that removes a healthy body part from a child can constitute a real and significant injury or damage to the child.”
UPDATE (1/29/21) - On day one of the new administration, Biden signed an Executive Order dismantling girls sports, and allowing biological boys back into girls locker-rooms.
The order declares: "Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the rest room, the locker room, or school sports. . . . All persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation."
This affront to reason effectively signals an end to girls' and women's sports, and diminishes their effort to compete on a level playing field.
Though this petition has already been delivered once, we will deliver new signatures to the US Dept of Education when restrictions permit, in honor of Selina Soule, who filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in 2019.
UPDATE (5/29/20) - US Dep’t of Education: Letting males compete in girls’ sports violates female athletes’ civil rights
UPDATE (2/13/20) - Selina Soule and two other Connecticut high school girl track athletes, Alanna Smith and Chelsea Mitchell, have sued the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) to stop boys who claim to be girls from competing in their sport.
Soule is the same high school girl who, last year, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). That complaint is still ongoing, as the OCR has not yet handed down its guidance ruling.
This also explains why this petition is still ongoing. Please SIGN and SHARE.
But, with another track season soon coming to an end, the girls' attorneys have asked the Court for an injunction that would stop the CIAC from implementing its current policy while the lawsuit proceeds.
Soule, Smith, and Mitchell will soon run in regional and state meets, competing for state championships. This year, they would like to have the opportunity to win, fair and square.
Please learn more about the latest news concerning this case, here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/three-girls-sue-state-to-stop-boys-who-say-theyre-girls-from-competing-in-their-sport
Then, please SIGN this petition. Thank you!
________________________________________________________________________
Selina Soule is a female athlete who now must compete against biological males because of Connecticut's policy requiring that boys who identify as girls be admitted into girls' sports competitions.
But, when boys compete in girls' sports, they win because they have a natural advantage. It's scientifically proven, and it's also common sense.
This crushes the motivation of the biological girls who have worked hard to compete on a level playing field, only to enter into competitions which they can never win, despite all of their efforts.
It also puts girls into harm's way in contact sports, AND it deprives female athletes of their right to fairly compete for college scholarships and other accolades.
This is wrong! And, that's why this URGENT petition supports Selina and all the other female athletes out there, who have put in the hours on the track or on the court.
Please SIGN this common sense petition supporting Selina Soule's complaint to the Dept of Education's Office for Civil Rights, against Connecticut's discriminatory policy.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/high-school-girl-files-federal-complaint-for-having-to-race-boys
*Above photo credit: Michael Goodin / The Daily Signal
Individuals who have undergone so-called “gender-affirming care” have warned about the effects of the drugs and surgeries.
Helena Kerschner, a young woman who recently “detransitioned,” told Michael Knowles how the Internet and social media encourages gender confusion. She said that her insecurities about her body as a teenager led her to Tumblr, where “gender ideology is very prominent.”
There are “social incentives” to change your pronouns and embrace gender ideology to stay in those online communities, Kerschner said. She told Knowles that Planned Parenthood injected her with hormone drugs to “transition” her to a man, a decision she soon regretted.