Fri Aug 13, 2021 – 4:29 pm EDTFri Aug 13, 2021 – 4:56 pm EDT
AUSTIN, Texas (LifeSiteNews) – The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has declared that performing transgender surgeries on children constitutes child abuse and could lead to prosecution.
“Genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery is child abuse, subject to all rules and procedures pertaining to child abuse,” DFPS commissioner Jaime Masters wrote Wednesday in a letter to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The governor had asked Masters last week to review whether transgender surgeries could be classified as abuse against minors.
“As you have described, this surgical procedure physically alters a child’s genitalia for non-medical purposes potentially inflicting irreversible harm to children’s bodies,” Masters wrote to Abbott. “Generally, children in the care and custody of a parent lack the legal capacity to consent to surgical treatments, making them more vulnerable.”
Professionals with “cause to believe” that a child has suffered abuse are obliged under Texas law to contact DFPS within two days after first suspecting abuse, Masters continued. “Failure to report is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $4,000, or both,” he said, adding that intentionally concealing child abuse is a jail felony.
“Finally, allegations involving genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery will be promptly and thoroughly investigated and any appropriate
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