Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose focus of governance includes child support and protection, announced on Monday that sex-change procedures and puberty blockers' prescriptions are considered "child abuse" under the state's law.
"Sex-change operations and puberty blockers prescribed to kids is 'child abuse' under Texas law. These procedures are monstrous and tragic. I'll do everything I can to protect against those who take advantage of and harm young Texans," Paxton declared on Twitter.
The Christian Post said a thorough explanation of Paxton's statement is contained in Opinion No. KP-0401, which concluded gender reassignment procedures make up a violation of the Texas Family Code's Chapter 261 provisions.
The Opinion was addressed to Texas House Committee on General Investigating Chair Matt Krause, who previously inquired on the possibility of such medical procedures as child abuse.
Paxton said in the Opinion that Krause specified the removal of a non-diseased or healthy body part in children, the use of sterilization, and mastectomies as surgeries for gender reassignment. While he indicated the use of puberty-blockers and doses of estrogen for males and testosterone for females as those prescribed for gender transition in children.
In the 13-page Opinion, Paxton raised that sterilizing a child obviously brings harm since it has side effects on top of becoming permanently infertile. He cited evidence from the medical profession that shows children and adolescents who undertake such irreversible sterilization procedures do not receive any benefit from it. He summarized that the said procedures and prescriptions violate Texas law.
"Each of the 'sex change' procedures and treatments enumerated above, when performed on children, can legally constitute child abuse under several provisions of chapter 261 of the Texas Family Code," Paxton said.
"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 added.
A press release on Monday said Paxton's Opinion aims to address the horrible outcomes of merging misguided ideology with medicine. It explained that the official opinion released by Paxton is in line with an earlier opinion contained in an October 2019 letter sent to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
The said letter cited the case of a certain James Younger who transitioned into a "female" after using puberty-blockers. The letter directed the DFPS to investigate the matter out of its duty to do so, since the case involves abuse as defined by the state's Family Code.
In addition, the Opinion is in support of an August 2021 letter of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, which requested the DFPS to determine if the mutilation of a child's genitalia through gender reassignment surgeries constitutes child abuse. The DFPS, in turn, confirmed that surgeries involving genital mutilation of a minor are indeed child abuse.
"There is no doubt that these procedures are 'abuse' under Texas law, and thus must be halted. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has a responsibility to act accordingly," Paxton stressed.
