Texas Dept. of Family and Protective Services: Sex-Change for Minors Is Child Abuse

Sex reassignment surgery for minors is child abuse, according to a ruling by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS).  The ruling comes one week after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) asked the agency to investigate the issue.

In a letter to Gov. Abbott’s office, DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters declared that “genital mutilation of a child for purposes of gender transitioning through reassignment surgery constitutes child abuse.” Masters wrote:

Genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery is child abuse. This surgical procedure physically alters a child’s genitalia for non-medical purposes potentially inflicting irreversible harm to children’s bodies. Generally, children in the care and custody of a parent lack the legal capacity to consent to surgical treatments, making them more vulnerable.

Masters further added that sex reassignment surgery for minors may only be appropriate in certain cases, such as a:

…child whose body parts have been affected by illness or trauma; who is born with a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development, such as the presence of both ovarian and testicular tissue; or who does not have the normal sex chromosome structure for male or female as determined through genetic testing.

Should medical or DFPS professionals witness such abuse, Masters instructed them to report it within 48 hours to a DFPS official; failure to do so would be considered a Class A misdemeanor:

Pursuant to Texas Family Code, Section 261.101, a professional who has “cause to believe” a child has been or may be abused must report that belief to DFPS within 48-hours after the professional first suspects the abuse. A professional may not delegate to or rely on another person to make the report. Professionals include teachers, nurses, doctors, day-care employees and others who are either licensed by the state or work in a facility licensed or operated by the state and who have direct contact with children through their job.

The Biden administration has strongly expressed support for children who identify as transgender. During the 2020 election, Joe Biden said during a town hall that he would like to make life “a lot easier” for children as young as eight to decide their gender.

“The idea that an eight-year-old child or a 10-year-old child decides you know, I decided I want to be transgender. That’s what I think I’d like to be. It’d make my life a lot easier. There should be zero discrimination,” he said.

“And what’s happening is too many transgender women of color are being murdered. They’re being murdered,” he added.

In February of this year, President Biden’s nominee for assistant secretary of health, Rachel Levine – a biological male who identifies as a woman – evaded Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) when he asked if minors are capable of altering their sex.

“Dr. Levine, do you believe minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing one’s sex?” Paul asked.

“Transgender medicine is a very complex and nuanced field with robust research and standards of care that have been developed and if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed as the assistant secretary of health, I’ll look forward to working with you and your office and coming to your office and discussing the particulars of the standards of care for transgender medicine,” replied Levine.

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