Following the abortion law that sparked nationwide debate, Texas is once again attempting to threaten basic human rights and bodily autonomy. The new law specifically aims to prohibit parents from accessing gender affirming procedures for their transgender children. 

Gov. Greg Abbott issued a letter to state health agencies in February 2021, stating that these procedures, such as reassignment surgeries and hormone therapies, are equivalent to “child abuse” under state law. The directive also legally requires nurses, doctors and teachers to report any parent that helps their child attain these medical changes to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. 

The order has been temporarily halted following an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit and suspension of the law is to remain in effect until the trial that is set to take place in July. 

For individuals with gender dysphoria or, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association, the “clinically significant distress or impairment related to a strong desire to be of another gender,” these procedures can be life saving. Abbott is demanding that these procedures be stopped in order to ensure that children are protected from abuse. If anything, ignoring a child’s diagnosis and forbidding them from receiving the proper health care seems to fall under that exact category. 

Despite claims that these medical practices cause “mental or emotional injury to a child” there is quantifiable evidence of the exact opposite. Yale researchers Richard Branstrom, Ph.D., and John E. Pachankis, Ph.D., found that “the odds of [transgender individuals] receiving mental health treatment were reduced by 8% for every year since receiving gender-affirming surgery.” This is only one of countless studies that have researched the same topic and found similar results. 

Abbott’s letter includes a number of references to the sterilization of these individuals. While sterilization can be an outcome, and in some states is even required, this is not always a process that takes place. Sterilization remains its own topic of discussion and debate within the U.S. and there are still gaps within the federal laws relating to this process. However, it is a process that remains the decision of the patient/legal guardian in question. 

This intrusion of the Texas state government should not be shocking, however, given that just last year a law imposing harsh restrictions on abortion was instituted. The law includes a similar ethical dilemma that requires physicians to report patients that seek abortions past the legal time frame. These laws make it clear that some Texas officials have no understanding of basic human rights, particularly bodily autonomy and doctor-patient confidentiality. 

The letter also cites the “physical injury” that could result from these procedures. Medical procedures of any kind pose risks to one’s physical and mental health. It has always been within a parents right to decide what medical procedure they feel safe allowing their child to undergo. The opinion of a qualified medical professional is also vital to these decisions. This is not a defense of a child’s safety. This is simply an attack on the kind of procedure in question. 

While the law is still on pause, therefore unable to be enacted, this remains a threat to transgender children and their families, not only in Texas but nationwide. The increased interference of state governments on private medical procedures and threats to bodily autonomy pose a significant threat to this country’s future. 

This is not just happening in Texas. Arizona, Alabama and Kentucky to name a few, are on the list of states aiming to pass laws that attack transgender individuals and their rights. Unfortunately, if passed, this law will likely continue to inspire similar threatening and restrictive legislation around the country.

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