Texas became the 18th state to pass legislation restricting minors from accessing puberty blockers, hormone therapies, sex-reassignment surgeries, and any other irreversible gender-transition treatment.
The new bill signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday will take effect on Sept. 1, making Texas the most-populated state to ban minors from transitioning before they are of age. Several LGBTQ+ legal advocacy groups, including Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union and its Texas chapter, and the Transgender Law Center are pledging to file a lawsuit opposing the law (via KXAN):
The groups said the bill bans transgender youth from accessing “medically necessary care.”
“[The bill] bans the only evidence-based care for gender dysphoria for transgender people under 18 and aims to strip doctors of their medical licenses for providing their patients with the care they know to be medically necessary,” the release said in part. “Texas lawmakers have ignored the warnings of transgender youth, their families, and the medical establishment about the harms of this legislation.”
After receiving Senate Bill 14 in mid-May, Abbott was quick to follow in the footsteps of Florida and many other Republican-led states that have outlawed these procedures and treatments for minors. The Human Rights Campaign did a study showing that over half of the states have either approved or are considering approving a policy banning "gender-affirming" care for children.
Before the legislation was passed, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, began investigating Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin to discover if unlawful gender-transitioning procedures were carried out on minor children, KXAN reported. Conveniently, physicians at the clinic "departed" before the investigation could be completed. Abbott was also the first governor to try and undergo an investigation of families receiving care for possible child abuse. However, the investigations were halted by a Texas judge, according to the Associated Press.
AP added that state police had to forcibly remove trans rights demonstrators from the Texas House chamber gallery following the bill being enacted.
"Children in Texas are officially protected from harmful, experimental medical and surgical treatments for gender dysphoria," state Rep. Tom Oliverson, a Republican said on Twitter. Oliverson also said the bill was written anticipating court challenges and he maintained confidence the law would not be overturned, the Texas Tribune reported.
Children in Texas are officially protected from harmful, experimental medical and surgical treatments for gender dysphoria. Thank you for signing SB14 @GovAbbott. We knew there would be court challenges. SB14 was written with that in mind and will prevail. #txlege https://t.co/OukJb5dCqX
— Tom Oliverson, M.D. (@TomOliverson) June 3, 2023