The Texas Supreme Court has dismissed temporary injunctions that had previously halted investigations into parents who permitted their transgender children to receive puberty blockers and hormone therapy. This decision was influenced by the fact that the state has concluded its inquiries into three families involved in the legal action, while a fourth child has reached adulthood.
Importantly, the ruling did not address whether administering such medical treatments to minors qualifies as child abuse, a determination previously suggested by Attorney General Ken Paxton in a nonbinding legal opinion issued in 2022. The legal dispute began before Texas enacted a ban on doctors providing puberty blockers and hormone therapies to minors for gender transitioning.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has not provided any immediate comments regarding the ruling.
Four families, along with the organization PFLAG, Inc., had successfully obtained temporary injunctions preventing DFPS from investigating cases involving transgender minors receiving puberty blockers and hormone treatments. However, while the agency’s appeal of these injunctions was pending, DFPS officials permanently closed their investigations, and one child involved has now turned 18. Consequently, the Texas Supreme Court concluded that maintaining the temporary injunctions was unnecessary.
The court stated, “There exists no credible, nonspeculative threat that DFPS will investigate these plaintiffs in the future based on the use of medical treatments for gender transitioning, either because DFPS has already ruled out these families for such an investigation or because the children’s having reached the age of majority deprives DFPS of authority to investigate.”
The legal battle traces back four years, following a directive from Governor Greg Abbott to DFPS after the attorney general’s office stated that it was illegal to subject Texas children to various elective gender-transitioning procedures. The governor instructed the agency to conduct prompt investigations into any reported instances of these procedures, leading DFPS to announce its intention to comply with the law.
Shortly thereafter, the parents of a 16-year-old diagnosed with gender dysphoria, along with a psychologist who treats such cases, initiated a lawsuit against the governor, the DFPS Commissioner, and DFPS itself in Travis County. In the months that followed, three additional families filed similar lawsuits. Ultimately, a Travis County trial court issued three separate orders that temporarily restrained DFPS and its commissioner from investigating allegations related to minors’ use of medications for gender transitioning.
As a result of these legal proceedings, three families saw their cases closed without any further actions taken, while the fourth child, previously a 16-year-old, is now an adult, rendering DFPS unable to pursue their case.
