When it comes to the ongoing Republican assault on trans rights, national media has put a lot of focus on Texas. While Texas is far from the only state trying to strip trans youth of basic rights (looking at you, Alabama), it is definitely among the most notorious. As Daily Kos covered in the past, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion (which is essentially a non-legally binding analysis of existing law) arguing that parents are committing child abuse by allowing their trans and nonbinary youth to receive gender-affirming health care. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott then directed state agencies to investigate parents on these charges.
As we know, gender-affirming care is lifesaving care. It is safe and age-appropriate. It is not a decision made quickly. It is not abuse. Even still, some families have reported they’ve already gotten visits from state workers to check on their home and children which is, at minimum, traumatic. Eventually, a lawsuit against the state on behalf of one set of such parents led to a district judge putting an injunction on the investigations. This was a short-term win.
And now? The Texas Supreme Court technically permitted the state to resume investigations except into the family represented by Lambda Legal and the ACLU in the lawsuit, whose investigations are currently on hold, as reported by the Texas Tribune. The court was ruling on whether or not the lower courts (which permitted the injunction) overstepped, but not the actual investigations. Is this a little confusing? Yes. But we can break it down below.
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To get the timeline in order, we can go back to February of this year, when Abbott gave the directive to follow Paxton’s opinion and investigate reported instances of gender-affirming health care being given to youth, including things like puberty blockers.
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From there, Lambda and the ACLU worked on behalf of a 16-year-old trans teen and her family to sue the state in order to stop the investigations against them; the family was reportedly one of the first to have an investigation open against them, per NPR. District Judge Amy Clark Meachum was able to pause investigations into the parents by issuing a temporary order, and then later was able to pause investigations statewide. These were wins!
As of today, thanks to the Texas Supreme Court, however, Meachum’s order has been lifted, with the exception being the original family in the suit.
Now, some folks are celebrating Friday’s ruling as a win, as the court does explicitly say the governor does not have the “authority to investigate, prosecute, or impose reporting requirements regarding child abuse allegations.” The court also pointed out that neither Abbott nor Paxton could “bind” the Department of Family and Protective Services’ (DFPS) “investigative authority.”
This all sounds encouraging, but again, the court didn’t rule on the ethics of the situation, but whether or not the lower courts were overstepping with the injunction holds. So … What happens now?
DFPS will decide whether or not to continue investigations, as well as whether or not they will open new ones. According to this ruling, the agency was responsible for determining if the investigations met state regulations, to begin with. Per The New York Times, it is not clear whether the ruling will cause the agency to resume investigations right away (or at all) or not.
If the department closes the cases, we can breathe a sigh of relief. If it doesn’t close the cases? It’s likely many more parents will sue the state.
For me? I’m taking it as a cautious win, but I’m not outright celebrating until the agency confirms those cases are closed and that more aren’t on the way.
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