Austin judge orders Texas to stop investigating trans kids' parents

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Source: Courthouse News Service

AUSTIN (CN) — A Texas state court halted a new Texas Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS) policy of investigating the parents of transgender children for child abuse for providing gender-affirming care, such as hormone therapy, to their kids.

The Friday evening order is the latest event in a weeklong civil lawsuit filed by the parents of a trans child and a Houston-area psychologist, who challenged Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Feb. 25 directive to the agency ordering it to consider encouraging medically recommended treatment of gender dysphoria as “child abuse.”

“Gender-affirming care was not investigated as child abuse by DFPS until after Feb. 22, 2022. The series of directives and decisions by the governor, the executive director and other decision-makers at DFPS changed the status quo for transgender children and their families, as well as professionals who offer treatment, throughout the state of Texas,” announced District Judge AMy Meachum at the conclusion of a hearing on the requested statewide injunction. “The governor’s directive was given the effect of a new law or a new agency rule despite no new legislation, regulation or even stated agency policy. [Texas Governor Greg] Abbott and [DFPS] Commissioner [Jaime] Masters’ actions violate separation of powers by impermissibly approaching into the legislative domain.”

In her decision, Meachum highlighted the consequences that the controversial policy has had on the family who brought the suit.

Read more: https://www.courthousenews.com/austin-judge-considers-halting-texas-investigations-of-trans-childrens-parents/

[tonekat]

1. Abbott is a sick man.

Trans kids and their parents have quite enough to handle, without this insane governor trying to rule by fiat.

[walkingman]

3. He is - but not just him. Paxton, Patrick, and most of the Texas GOP leadership

are disgusting human beings. How they continue to keep getting elected is just crazy.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

4. Too many disgusting people who think like them...

And who enjoy "leaders" who bully and abuse "the others."

You know, the same kind of people who'd love to have Putler be our president.

[Skittles]

10. these are the same assholes

who think mask mandates are "tyranny"

[IngridsLittleAngel]

14. Of course...

Telling a good ol' "Murkan Patriot" what to do: Tyranny.

Telling anyone who isn't like them and that they don't like what to do: The will of the people.

Freedom for me, not for thee. But, you cannot spell hypocrite without the G, the O and the P.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

2. Thank goodness...

The problem, though, is while we've taken this round, this isn't over. They'll be at it again tomorrow. They'll appeal. They'll file more lawsuits. They may even defy this judge's orders. So... One small step. But we all know Nazis never go down quietly, so... Now it's time to see what they do and what the hell the next battle is.

I hate these damned bigots. I hate them beyond words. Even if this gets stopped permanently, they've still done plenty to hurt and scare people.... which was the goal all along.

Thank you, Judge Meachum Clark.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Judge temporarily blocks Texas investigations into families of trans kids

Last edited Fri Mar 11, 2022, 09:15 PM - Edit history (1)

Link to tweet

State District Judge Amy Clark Meachum ruled Friday that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services cannot continue to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their transgender children for child abuse. The statewide injunction will remain in effect until the case is heard in July.

Meachum said there is a "substantial likelihood that" lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal will prevail in getting this directive permanently overturned, calling Abbott's actions "beyond the scope of his duty and unconstitutional."....

Lawyers for the ACLU and Lambda argued in court Friday that Meachum should grant a statewide injunction on all of these investigations until the legitimacy of this directive can be argued in trial.

“The defendant’s directives and actions are traumatizing,” said ACLU of Texas attorney Brian Klosterboer. He added that the actions are “killing the ability of transgender youth to continue to get necessary care, and forcing physicians and mandatory reporters … to decide between civil and criminal penalties … and doing what’s right for the health of their patients.”

[Ford_Prefect]

6. It seems the GOP and Abbot's crew do not accept that the treatment is considered correct and safe

by medical and psychiatric professionals especially those with responsibility for determining legal liability.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

15. They wouldn't care if it was 200% safe...

They don't like trans people, they don't accept trans people, they don't want us to exist. Even if proven totally safe, they'd be doing this because they are cruel, hateful, fascist bigots.

[Ford_Prefect]

19. Yes, they are cruel, hateful, fascist bigots who attack vulnerable people in order to show

how angry and powerful they are. I have met their kind many times, personally. They are both horrible and frightening.

The point of my ironic remark was that along with their cruelty they are also so ignorant as to assume there is no legitimate professional and legal support for the procedures and protocols they claim to be abusive.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

20. My apologies on missing the irony..

I do from time to time.

But you're right on how awful and frightening these people are.

Sadly, they do think there is "support" for being trans.. Conversation therapy. Since they can't do it legally, they're trying to do it to us publicly and through CPS.

[MissMillie]

7. This caught my eye

She also said there was no apparent end goal for the investigations. According to Mulanax, Child Protective Services refers children to pediatricians, psychologists and other experts for their opinions on how children should be treated.

“If they’ve already recommended these treatments, it is not our position to step in and say that they are incorrect,” Mulanax said.

They're being ordered to ignore their own experts.

[Pepsidog]

8. Texas supporters of this are sick bastards. I'm sick of these pseudo-macho assholes.

[Skittles]

9. THIS is standing up to tyranny

[NullTuples]

11. The details that came out in that hearing...

Employees were ordered by Abbott that every trans family case submitted must be marked "to be investigated" even though it's their job to determine if there's a question of abuse that warrants an investigation.

What's worse is they were also told they could discuss their cases with each other but the trans family case discussions could not take place via messaging or email - verbal only - one would assume so there would be no record.

The judge in that "separation of powers" statement was saying that Abbott & Paxton violated the Texas Constitution in their election year theater of cruelty.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. Texas Democrats Condemn Texas Republicans' Continued Campaign of Cruelty Against Trans Youth

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. Analysis: Texas officials bully transgender kids for political points

Paxton and Abbott are attacking and threatening trans children for political points

Link to tweet

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/11/texas-transgender-politics/?utm_campaign=trib-social-buttons&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton are turning the law-and-order Republican Party into a gang of bullies, targeting transgender kids — and the parents who support them — with their decision to treat gender-affirming health care as child abuse.

That health care is legal under Texas law, but this is election season. Cynics who think politicians will say anything to get reelected have a new, sparkling piece of evidence......

But most of those aren’t sexy election issues. Paxton is in a runoff. Abbott faces a well-known, well-financed Democrat in November. And as The Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek has reported, they think they’ve got a hot item to entice Republican voters.

“This is a winning issue,” Abbott’s top political strategist, Dave Carney, told reporters last week. “Texans have common sense.”....

“How is that considered child abuse to accept them and love them?” one mother told them. “How can they overstep their power and try to come and tell me how I should love my child?”

[bluestarone]

16. These type people will not listen to the judges order. (my thoughts here)

That's who they are. I hope they are watched VERY CLOSE!

[IngridsLittleAngel]

17. Sounds like they already aren't...

As I saw in a reply on another thread on this: Abbott has appealed, and claims he can now continue doing this.

Lock that fucker up.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. ACLU Statement TEXAS COURT BLOCKS STATE FROM INVESTIGATING FAMILIES OF TRANSGENDER YOUTH

Link to tweet

AUSTIN, Texas — The Travis County District Court issued an injunction today blocking the State of Texas from implementing a new directive that targeted trans youth. The directive ordered the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to investigate parents who work with medical professionals to provide their adolescent transgender children with medically necessary treatment. The directive could have led to transgender youth being placed in foster care and parents criminally charged with child abuse.

“The court’s decisive ruling today brings some needed relief to trans youth in Texas but we cannot stop fighting,” said Brian Klosterboer, ACLU of Texas attorney. “Today’s witnesses — including a parent targeted by these attacks, experts on medical care, and a supervisor within Texas Child Protective Services — gave courageous and emotional testimony about the fear and harm caused by these unlawful actions. All trans young people deserve to live freely as their true selves.”

The decision came at the end of a day-long hearing in a lawsuit filed on behalf of two parents — a DFPS employee and her spouse with a transgender child — and Dr. Megan Mooney, a licensed psychologist who is considered a mandatory reporter under Texas law and cannot comply with the governor’s directive without harming her clients and violating her ethical obligations.

“We feel relieved and vindicated that the judge understood the magnitude and breadth of the harm that would have resulted if Texas’ child welfare agency — at the direction of the governor — were allowed to continue enforcing this lawless directive,” said Paul Castillo, Senior Counsel at Lambda Legal. “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.”

“The judge recognized the governor and DFPS’s actions for what they were — unauthorized and unconstitutional exercises of power that cause severe, immediate, and devastating harms to transgender youth and their families across Texas,” said Chase Strangio, deputy director for Trans Justice with the American Civil Liberties Union LGBTQ & HIV Project. “We are relieved for Texas families and will never stop fighting for trans justice.”

[LetMyPeopleVote]

22. Texas Children's Hospital Ceases Child Gender Transition Treatments After DFPS Directive

This is horrible. Texas Children is one of the better hospitals in the country for these issues

Link to tweet

https://thetexan.news/texas-childrens-hospital-ceases-child-gender-transition-treatments-after-dfps-directive/?utm_content=buffer838cf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Texas Children’s Hospital, a medical center in Houston, announced on Friday that it would stop administering drugs meant to aid sex transitions for children.
According to the hospital’s statement, leadership made the decision to stop the endocrine treatments because of the state’s recent choice to officially treat gender modification as child abuse.

“The mission of Texas Children’s Hospital is to create a healthier future for all children, including transgender children, within the bounds of the law. After assessing the Attorney General’s and Governor’s actions, Texas Children’s Hospital paused hormone-related prescription therapies for gender-affirming services,” the hospital stated.

“This step was taken to safeguard our healthcare professionals and impacted families from potential criminal legal ramifications.”

On February 21, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an official opinion arguing that gender transition procedures constitute child abuse under existing Texas law. Specifically, Paxton observed that courts have long recognized a fundamental liberty interest in procreation, a right endangered by the endocrine and surgical treatments used to aid sex transitions before adulthood.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

23. Texas Appellate Court reinstates injunction halting investigations into transgender youth

Paxton was full of shit when he claimed that this injunction was stayed

Link to tweet

[FreepFryer]

24. This is precisely why DU needs to continue to stand for trans rights as part of our coalition

It’ll be another “minority” Dominionists target next if we don’t stop this Nazi shit from the get go.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

25. The pee pee police