Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced this week that performing sex reassignment surgeries on minors is a form of child abuse.
The governor made the announcement Thursday, after receiving a report from Jaime Masters, commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Masters, Abbott said in a statement, examined “whether genital mutilation of a child for purposes of gender transitioning through reassignment surgery constitutes child abuse.”
In her letter to Abbott, Masters affirmed it is child abuse.
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“This surgical procedure physically alters a child’s genitalia for non-medical purposes potentially inflicting harm to children’s bodies,” she wrote. “Generally, children in the care and custody of a parent lack the legal capacity to consent to surgical treatments, making them more vulnerable.”
Masters did, however, not a handful of exceptions.
“It may be warranted for the following conditions, including but not limited to, a child whose body parts have been affected by illness or trauma; who is born with a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development, such as the presence of both ovarian and testicular tissue; or who does not have the normal sex chromosome structure for male or female, as determined through genetic testing.”
She went on to state that failure to report suspected abuse within a timely manner could result in a Class A misdemeanor charge, which may include jail time.
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Any allegations of said abuse “will be promptly and thoroughly investigated and any appropriate actions will be taken,” Masters added.
The proclamation in Texas comes as some Republican lawmakers around the country have sought to ban sex reassignment procedures for minors, though their efforts have faced pushback.
In late July, a federal judge temporarily blocked an Arkansas law that would have banned doctors from prescribing transgender hormone treatments, puberty blockers, or performing reassignment surgeries on minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
U.S. District Judge Jay Moody argued at the time the legislation “would cause irreparable harm” to children by pulling their care “midstream.”
It’s worth noting Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) first vetoed the legislation before the state legislature overruled him. Moody, for his part, argued last month the American Civil Liberties Union will likely win its challenge against the law.
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