A Brown County District Judge has ruled that doctors have immunity to report parents to CPS based on the doctor’s perception that the parents may have autism.
The legal arguments advanced in this case have raised concerns about parental rights, disability discrimination, and the growing power of institutions to separate children from their families with little accountability.
Background
In December 2023, parents Joel and Donelle brought their daughter Rose to the hospital because her weight gain was slow. Rose was subsequently diagnosed with Failure to Thrive.
Doctors from Hendrick’s Medical Center and Pediatrics of Brownwood made the assumption that parents Joel and Donelle were autistic, repeatedly claiming in medical records that they were incapable of raising their daughter—despite neither parent being diagnosed.
The doctors reported Joel and Donelle to Child Protective Services (CPS) on this basis and are accused of effectively running the investigation in significant part.
Joel and Donelle contended that Rose’s slow weight gain was genetic—a theory that turned out to be true.
Nonetheless, a Brown County grand jury sided with CPS, removing Rose from her parents’ custody for two and a half years.
Attorney Ashley Thompson filed a civil rights lawsuit in the 35th District Court in Brownwood on behalf of Joel and Donelle, seeking to hold the doctors accountable for their actions.
The doctors’ attorneys argued in a recent hearing that it is legal for them to report parents based on perceived autism and that the law grants them immunity for such decisions. They reportedly never denied Thompson’s allegations or issued an apology to the parents for their devastating error.
The Ruling
District Judge Mike Smith reportedly issued an order agreeing with the doctors’ argument, granting them immunity from the claims related to their reporting of the parents to CPS based on perceived autism.
Experts are concerned that the ruling could have far-reaching consequences for parental rights.
Family Freedom Project (FFP) has been working to defend Joel and Donelle in their CPS case, as well as supporting the family in their civil rights case against doctors and CPS.
“The idea that doctors have immunity to report parents to CPS and break up families based on perceived disability should offend the conscience of every person in Texas, and it should terrify all of us,” said Jeremy Newman, Vice President of FFP.
“The destruction of a family is among the most grave actions the state can undertake,” he continued. “It is egotistical at a shocking level for these doctors to think they can inflict this on families based on a perceived disability, blame those parents for health issues in the child later shown to be genetic, and then walk away and shrug it all off by saying ‘oops, we have immunity’.”
Both the CPS case and civil rights lawsuit remain ongoing. Judge Smith’s ruling is expected to be appealed to the Eleventh Court of Appeals in Eastland.
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