In a move that will definitely intensify the Texas fall election between Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, President Joe Biden’s administration condemned Wednesday the Texas effort to investigate the use of gender-affirming procedures on children.
In a statement Wednesday evening, President Biden called Abbott’s directive a government overreach at its worst, pointing out that such actions are terrifying many families in Texas and beyond.
Hours before the interjection from Biden and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Abbott’s administration was temporarily blocked by a Texas judge from investigating the family of a 16-year-old transgender girl.
However, the court’s intervention did not stop the practice statewide.
After state officials declared the use of puberty-blocking drugs or other gender-related medical procedures on children such care can constitute “child abuse” under state law, Abbott’s Feb. 22 directive ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the state’s youth protection agency, to inspect such practices and called for inquiries into parents and medical providers who allegedly violate the law.
Health Department’s Secretary Xavier Becerra urged on Wednesday families targeted by a child welfare investigation because of the discriminatory gubernatorial order, to contact the department’s civil rights office.
Noting it will use every tool at our disposal to keep Texans safe, the Department issued further guidance to other states and child welfare agencies, saying restrictions on gender-affirming care would likely violate federal law.
Only a day before, the family of a Texas child protection worker, a clinical psychologist, and civil rights groups have sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the state in an attempt to halt the directive
Announcing that the court will convene a March 11 hearing to hear arguments over the broader fate of Abbott’s orders, Travis County District Judge Amy Clark Meachum granted a temporary restraining order to pause that investigation.
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