This year, Texas Republicans passed legislation to ban gender mutilative drugs and surgeries for children.
Senate Bill 14 by State Sen. Donna Campbell (R–New Braunfels) went into effect on September 1 and bans puberty-blocking drugs and sterilizing surgeries for children under 18.
A 2019 custody battle over 7-year-old James Younger played a pivotal role in prompting the Republican Party of Texas to prioritize legislation aimed at banning child gender mutilation.
A Dallas jury ruled against James’ father, Jeff Younger, for trying to stop his ex-wife from raising their son as a girl.
James’ mother admitted she intended to administer puberty-blocking drugs to the child.
At the time, neither the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature nor Abbott took definitive action to protect James or other children from these medically questionable procedures.
In 2022, Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to initiate investigations into “abusive procedures” imposed on children for “gender transitioning.”
In May of 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also announced an investigation into Dell Children’s Medical Center for potential illegal performance of procedures for “gender transitioning.”
“It is now alarmingly common for fringe activists to use their positions in medicine and health care to force experimental, life-altering procedures onto children,” said Paxton in the press release.
According to The Guardian, the investigation prompted all the physicians in the adolescent medicine department to depart. Even before SB 14 went into effect, doctors and families seeking to perform gender mutilation procedures began to flee the state, including a family involved in a lawsuit claiming SB 14 violated their parental rights.
The family said they would relocate out of state to secure puberty blockers for their child and claimed SB 14 would stop them from providing “medical care” for their children.
Despite the legal fight, Paxton blocked Judge Maria Cantú Hexsel’s temporary injunction against SB 14, allowing the law to go into effect.
Nearly 30,000 Texas children from the ages of 13-17 “identified as transgender” according to a 2022 statistical analysis by the Williams Institute.
Another notable case involves a Tarrant County woman, Soren Aldaco, who filed a lawsuit against doctors who allegedly pressured her into adopting a transgender identity beginning at the age of 15.
Aldaco received cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and a botched double mastectomy.
“The repercussions of these interventions have led to Soren’s permanent disfigurement and profound psychological scarring,” the lawsuit reads.
Since SB 14 has gone into effect, LGBT advocacy groups have formed to transport minors out-of-state for gender mutilative procedures. One of these is North Texas TRANSportation Network, which allows “gender-diverse” minors to apply for a $1,000 travel voucher.
“Already we are seeing a plethora of new issues as they shift their methods in the wake of Senate Bill 14 becoming law,” said Brady Gray, president of Texas Family Project.
“Parents leaving the state to have these evil and destructive procedures performed is going to increase. We must take action to ensure that these people are not allowed to mutilate their children. Social transitioning is going to continue to rise,” said Gray. “Parents must stay vigilant, Texans must demand their lawmakers continue to fight, and Christians must be in prayer.”
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