Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has declared all medical treatment of transgender minors to be child abuse and says that his office could prosecute parents of transgender children, as well as "mandatory reporters" who fail to report medical treatment of transgender children to the state. In tandem, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has urged state officials to begin investigating any families that may be giving their trans kids puberty-blocking drugs or hormones, or allowing them to undergo surgical treatments.
In a 13-page memo dated Feb. 18, written in response to a query from state Rep. Matt Krause (R–Fort Worth), Paxton wrote that, based on his office's analysis, any sort of medical treatment of a trans minor, be it sex-changing surgery or puberty-blocking drugs, could constitute child abuse under Texas law.
