The Office of the Attorney General has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Texas to allow the state’s ban on child gender modification treatments and procedures to move forward, following a recent ruling by a district court judge that would have blocked its implementation.
The ruling by the Travis County district judge came in response to oral arguments in Loe v. Texas, where each side offered expert and fact witnesses in a hearing to provide insight and relate personal stories about how the child gender modification treatments have impacted and will continue to impact their lives.
The judge ruled that the State of Texas and all “respective officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, as well as any individuals or entities in active concert with them” will be “restrained from implementing or enforcing the Act,” referring to SB 14, the law that would ban child gender modification treatments and procedures for Texans under 18 years of age.”
This includes the State of Texas, the OAG, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC), and Texas Medical Board.
The ruling also blocks the THHSC from withholding public funds from healthcare providers who “facilitate the provision of a procedure or treatment based on the Act.”
“This fundamental right includes the right of parents to give, withhold, and withdraw consent to medical treatment for their children,” the judge stated in the ruling. “This fundamental right also includes the right to seek and to follow medical advice to protect the health and well being of their minor children.”
The district judge also issued a new trial to be held on May 6, 2024.
Following that issuance, the OAG filed an “accelerated interlocutory appeal” to SCOTX, staying the district judge’s ruling and allowing SB 14 to proceed with its implementation until SCOTX issues a resolution to the appeal.
Acting Attorney General Angela Colmenero is currently the head of the OAG while the currently suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton awaits an impeachment trial in the Senate.
In a statement announcing its appeal, the OAG called child gender modification treatments “experimental” and “unproven” and said they are being “pushed” onto children by “activists in the medical and psychiatric professions.”
“The OAG will continue to enforce the laws duly enacted by the Texas Legislature and uphold the values of the people of Texas by doing everything in its power to protect children from damaging ‘gender transition’ interventions.”
Opponents of SB 14 took to social media to celebrate the judge’s initial ruling.
LGBT legal group Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, both of which were representing the plaintiffs in Loe, stated they were “elated” with the ruling and called it a “critical victory for transgender youth and their families” despite their anticipation of the OAG’s appeal.
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