According to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Texas officials have begun investigating parents of trans adolescents for possible child abuse after Gov. Greg Abbott directed them to handle certain medical treatments as possible crimes.
The investigations by the state's Department of Family and Protective Services, which have not been previously reported, were started in response to an order from Mr. Abbott. The order followed a nonbinding opinion by the Texas attorney general that parents who give puberty-suppressing drugs or other medically accepted treatments to their children could be investigated for child abuse.
The first to be investigated was an employee of the protective services agency who has a child. The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas went to state court in Austin to try to stop the inquiry.
The employee works on the review of reports of abuse and neglect. According to the filing, she was placed on administrative leave last week and on Friday was visited by an investigator from the agency who was looking for medical records related to her child. The family of the child has refused to give up their records.
In a declaration filed with the suit, the employee wrote that she and her husband were Jane and John, and that they were terrified for Mary's health and well-being.
Not providing Mary with the medically necessary health care that she needs is not an option for us.
According to the lawsuit, the state's investigator told the parents that the only allegation against them was that their daughter might have been provided with gender-affirming health care and was currently transitioning from male to female.
The governor's office and the state protective agency didn't respond to requests for comment.
It was not known if Mr. Abbott's order would survive judicial scrutiny. Several county attorneys and district attorneys have said that they would not prosecute families for child abuse under the new definition of child abuse. The directive by Mr. Abbott has had a chilling effect.
All licensed professionals who have direct contact with children would be required to report to state authorities those that they believe are receiving gender-affirming treatment, or face criminal penalties.
The A.C.L.U. of Texas and the L.G.B.T.Q. community sought to block the request for medical records in the employee's case. Other investigations have begun, according to the filing.
The groups argue in the suit that the directive by the governor was improper under state law and that it violated the rights of the children and their parents.
The policy strategist at the A.C.L.U. of Texas said that no family should have to fear being torn apart because of their support of a trans child.
Dr. Megan Mooney is a licensed psychologist in Houston. According to the suit, many of the patients who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria have been seen by Dr. Mooney, who is required to report suspected child abuse under Texas law.
The news of investigations into gender-affirming medical care has had a chilling effect on families with trans children or teens, who no longer want to go on the record or publicly identify as trans.
One parent of a trans teenager in Houston said that the family's health clinic had stopped new prescriptions for them in the wake of Mr. Abbott's order. The mother, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her child's safety, said they felt betrayed because their son had only a one-week supply left of his testosterone prescription.
Legacy Community Health did not respond to the request for comment.
A family said they were angry and nervous about Mr. Abbott's order. A trans girl named Willow Egerton is open about her identity.
It's scary to see all these people against you and want you gone, and that parents who support their trans children are not child abuse.
Owen Egerton said that his daughter's confidence in who she is outweighs her anxiety over facing legal ramifications. His daughter wore a trans flag with a cape and high socks as she walked to the State Capitol in Austin.
The last thing we want is hiding.
Mr. Egerton said that the family wasn't planning any changes because of a two-page letter written by the governor.
The moves by Mr. Abbott and Mr. Paxton came days before a primary election in which each faces significant and noisy challenges from far-right opponents. Mr. Paxton, who has been indicted on securities fraud charges and accused of corruption by his own former top aides, has been seen as particularly vulnerable. He was unlikely to get more than 50 percent of the vote and was likely to end up in a May runoff.
Over the past year, the state government in Texas has moved to the right on a number of social issues. Since a new law went into effect last September that effectively banned the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, abortion has been very limited in the state.
The push to investigate parents for child abuse if they give certain medical treatments to their trans children is similar to the push to investigate parents for child abuse if they do not. It is required in the case of teachers, doctors and others who believe in child abuse.
Paul Castillo said in a statement that Mr. Abbott and Mr. Paxton were joining a politically motivated misinformation campaign with no consideration of medical science and seem determined to criminalize parents who want to care for their kids.
The officials have been praised by some groups that oppose such treatments.
The effort to stop treatments for trans teens has been criticized by professional medical groups and by health experts who say that such decisions should be made by a patient, their parents and their doctors. Studies show that teenagers who are trans are more likely to kill themselves.
There has been some debate among doctors about the treatment of young people as more and more teenagers seek to better align their bodies with their gender identities through hormones and surgeries.
Legislation to ban gender-affirming treatment for teenagers has been introduced in more than 20 states, but no such bills were passed in Texas during the last legislative session. One of the bills in Texas would have redefined child abuse to include gender-affirming treatment.
The state's protective services agency was asked to determine if surgeries for trans teenagers would constitute child abuse. The agency removed information about gender identity and a suicide prevention hotline after one of Mr. Abbott's Republican primary opponents attacked him.
Mr. Abbott responded with his directive after Mr. Paxton issued his opinion. The agency began its investigations almost immediately after.
Azeen gave reporting.
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