This content was published on February 23, 2022 – 23:45
Washington, Feb 23 (EFE) .- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU, in English) criticized this Wednesday that the authorities of Texas (USA) intend to investigate the processes of sex change in minors as if They were cases of child abuse.
“Trans youth continue to be threatened in Texas by state leadership as part of a disinformation campaign that harms children,” the NGO denounced in a statement.
The ACLU thus censored the words of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who last Friday affirmed that transitional medical treatment can constitute a crime of child abuse, when answering a question from the state House of Representatives.
Paxton concluded that “anyone who performs or facilitates these treatments could be involved in child abuse, whether they are parents or doctors.”
Following this position, the governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbot, ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) on Tuesday to investigate these “abusive procedures”, including the parents who authorize them.
In a letter, Abbott noted that Texas law prohibits minors from undergoing “a wide variety of gender transition procedures,” such as surgeries, mastectomies, removals or the administration of hormones.
The ACLU responded that the prosecutor’s opinion “is not legally binding and it is up to the courts to interpret the laws,” and that DFPS “may not separate any minor from his or her parents or guardians without a court order.”
“No court in Texas or anywhere else in the country has ever found that gender-affirming care can be considered child abuse,” he stated.
In addition, the NGO considered that Paxton’s words “ignore the consensus of the main medical associations” on the transition procedures.
“Our state leaders need to focus on helping our young people instead of attacking the parents and doctors who provide their children with necessary medical care,” said Adri Perez, public policy officer for the ACLU of Texas. EFE
er / ssa / cfa
© EFE 2022. The redistribution and rebroadcasting of all or part of the contents of Efe’s services is expressly prohibited, without the prior and express consent of Agencia EFE SA
–
