Texas judge halts state investigation into parents of transgender youth
A Texas judge on Friday issued an injunction halting the state’s investigation into parents who provide transgender youth with puberty blockers or gender-affirming care.
Judge Amy Meachum of the District Court of Travis County ruled that the investigation ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) might not hold up in court and thus should be stopped for the interim, according to a press release from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas.
Meachum said Abbott’s investigation went “beyond the scope of his duty.”
Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who last month issued a nonbinding legal opinion arguing he believes gender-affirming care and puberty blockers for transgender teens amounted to “child abuse,” said he plans to appeal the injunction.
“Democrat judge tries to halt legal and necessary investigations into those trying to abuse our kids through ‘trans’ surgeries and prescription drugs,” Paxton wrote on Twitter. “I’m appealing. I’ll win this fight to protect our Texas children.”
Shortly after Paxton issued his legal opinion last month, Abbott ordered the state to investigate “any reported instances of these abusive procedures” in Texas.
The court last week halted the investigation and said it would consider whether to block it more broadly.
Paxton appealed, but the court on Wednesday ruled in favor of the ACLU and Lambda Legal and allowed the case to proceed.
Paul Castillo, Senior Counsel at Lambda Legal, said “parents who love their transgender children and work with healthcare providers to support and affirm their well-being should be celebrated, rather than investigated as criminals as the state sought to do here.”
“We are grateful that the judge issued an order today preventing enforcement of these directives statewide against any family in Texas, and made clear that no one who counts as a mandatory reporter can be forced to turn in families for investigation simply for doing what is right for their child,” Castillo said in a statement.
Updated: 9:26 p.m.
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