Texas is worried it could lose over a billion dollars in federal funding over Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive requiring medical professionals to report gender-affirming care for minors as child abuse.
Attorney General Ken Paxton. Credit: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters
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Texas is worried it could lose over a billion dollars in federal funding over Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive requiring medical professionals to report transgender children receiving gender-affirming health care as potential child abuse.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton amended an existing lawsuit suing the Biden administration Wednesday, attempting to void guidance issued by the U.S. Health and Human Services on March 2 that said restricting someone’s ability to receive medical care solely on the basis of their sex assigned at birth or gender identity is likely a violation of the Affordable Care Act for federally funded entities. That federal guidance came in response to Abbott’s directive issued late last month to treat certain medical treatments for trans children as possible crimes to be investigated by the Department of Family and Protective Services.
The federal guidance stated that health care providers do not need to disclose private patient information regarding gender-affirming care and that it is illegal to deny health care based on gender identity.
Paxton, in the lawsuit, said that guidance is based on “erroneous interpretation of sex discrimination.” The lawsuit says Texas does not aim to deny health care based on gender identity. Instead, the state argues its investigations disregard gender entirely, barring all children from “unnecessary medical interventions.”
In 2020, $1.36 billion in federal funds went to Texas’ Department of State Health Services, Paxton said in the lawsuit. More than $26 billion went to the State’s Health and Human Services Commission.
Before Abbott issued his directive essentially equating gender-affirming care to child abuse, Paxton issued a nonbinding legal opinion stating that health care treatments such as puberty blockers, prescription medicines whose effects are entirely reversible, constitute child abuse as well. These statements elicited intense criticism from the White House, doctors, lawmakers and advocacy organizations.
So far, the state has begun five investigations into parents of trans children since Abbott issued his directive Feb. 22. However, there may be more cases as the state declined to disclose active investigations amid pending litigation.
Paxton attempted to stop a ruling temporarily blocking the state from investigating the family of a trans child. But a Texas appeal court denied him Wednesday. On Friday, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal will ask a lower court judge to stop state investigations against parents who obtain gender-reaffirming care for their children.
House Republicans in Tennessee advanced legislation on Tuesday that would ban public schools from using textbooks or materials that “promote, normalize, support or address LGBT issues or lifestyles.”
Critics argue the bill is similar to a measure that Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature passed just hours earlier, which would forbid instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
The Tennessee version would apply to all K-12 public schools. A House panel on Tuesday approved sending it it to the full chamber for a vote. The bill has not yet made much progress in Senate.
“I think most parents would like the sexuality of our children to be left to our parents in the home and not part of a curriculum,” said Republican Rep. Bruce Griffey, the bill’s sponsor. “And the vast number of parents also feel like materials that promote LGBTQ issues and lifestyles that should be subject to the same restrictions and limitation that there are on religious teachings that are not allowed in our schools.”
Since being elected to the House in 2018, Griffey has not had much political sway inside the GOP-dominated Statehouse. He has become known for introducing some of the more attention-grabbing contentious proposals each legislative session, but they rarely advance.
Nevertheless, Republicans on the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee advanced the bill, with one GOP member thanking Griffey for sponsoring the bills.
According to the legislation, the state’s Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission would be banned from recommending textbooks and instructional materials that “promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender (LGBT) issues or lifestyles” that would be used in public schools. If approved, the measure would apply to textbooks approved by the commission after July 1.
“What you’re saying to them and to the rest of us is that that ‘We don’t want to know that you’re here. We don’t want our children to know that you even exist,’” said Democratic Rep. Larry Miller. “How unamerican … how embarrassing that is.”
Republican Gov. Bill Lee has not publicly weighed in on the legislation, but the governor has never vetoed a bill while in office.
The Élysée Palace released images of French President Macron after his call with Putin today, regarding the invasion of Ukraine. 🇫🇷🇷🇺🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/I1uOgNMuma
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a nonbinding legal opinion last month that equated gender-affirming care with child abuse. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
For LGBTQ mental health support, call the Trevor Project’s 24/7 toll-free support line at 866-488-7386. You can also reach a trained crisis counselor through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 800-273-8255 or texting 741741.
A Texas appeals court sided with the parents of a transgender teenager in a ruling Wednesday, rejecting Attorney General Ken Paxton’s efforts to allow a child abuse investigation to proceed.
The ruling will allow a lower court to hold a hearing, scheduled for Friday, where lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal will ask a judge to stop the state from launching child abuse investigations against parents who have obtained gender-affirming care for their transgender children.
“This crisis in Texas is continuing every day, with state leaders weaponizing the Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate families, invade their privacy, and trample on the rights of parents simply for providing the best possible health care for their kids under the guidance of doctors and medical best practices. This appeal was always groundless and DFPS and the courts need to stop this egregious government overreach,” said Brian Klosterboer, an attorney with ACLU of Texas.
The Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a nonbinding legal opinion issued in mid-February, Paxton equated gender-affirming care with child abuse. Gov. Greg Abbott followed that with a letter directing Texas Child Protective Services to open investigations into families that provide this care to their children.
While most gender-affirming care focuses on “social transition” — allowing a child to express their gender how they’d like — some transgender children take puberty blockers, a completely reversible medical treatment that’s prescribed for a wide range of situations beyond transition. Paxton and Abbott also cited concerns over gender-affirming surgeries that are rarely, if ever, used on children.
The state has opened at least five child welfare investigations into parents of trans children since Abbott issued his directive on Feb. 22, though the real number may be much higher. The state has declined to provide the number of active investigations, citing the pending litigation.
The ACLU and Lambda Legal have sued on behalf of a state worker who has a trans child and alleges she was put on leave and investigated by CPS after asking questions about the directive.
Last week, state District Judge Amy Clark Meachum granted a temporary restraining order blocking the state from investigating the family. Paxton immediately appealed that ruling, and on Wednesday, the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to proceed.
Meachum also scheduled a hearing for Friday to hear arguments on whether to grant a temporary injunction until trial, and whether it should extend to all parents of transgender children.
Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, doubled down on his pledge to raise most Americans’ taxes if the GOP retakes the Senate in this year’s midterms.
Scott gleefully justified his proposal to Laura Ingraham on Monday night.
Last month, he unveiled a plan that stipulating that, “All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount. Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax.”
When asked on Fox News if he wanted to raise taxes on most Americans last month, Scott straight up lied by saying his plan would not do that. He received no pushback from host Sean Hannity.
Appearing on The Ingraham Angle on Monday, Scott said that Americans “want free government stuff.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has distanced himself from Scott’s agenda. Last week he said at a press conference that it “will not be a part of the Republican Senate majority agenda” if the GOP retakes the chamber.
But that would depend on whether McConnell is still the leader of Senate Republicans.
Speaking with Scott, Ingraham rather bizarrely called his plan to hike taxes on most Americans “unabashedly populist.”
“Here’s what’s not fair,” he said. “We have hard-working Americans – they’re paying all these taxes, and retirees pay them. Who’s not? We’ve got some billionaires not paying it, and we got people that want free government stuff and they don’t want to have any skin in the game. That’s not fair.”
Ingraham followed up by asking Scott, “What is going on here with Mitch McConnell?” She noted that “he’s not a populist,” but rather “an old-style Bush Republican.”
Scott replied, “I just think there’s a difference of opinion.”
When asked by Ingraham if he was “fine” presenting his plan to voters, Scott responded, “Hell yeah!”
The Florida Senate debated the frequently referred to “Don’t Say Gay” bill on Monday, but one Republican spoke in such circles that he ultimately ended up fact-checking himself.
Responding to comments from one Democrat about why the GOP doesn’t care about talk of drugs, rape, murder or other topics. Instead, Republicans are more focused on addressing issues like civil rights and LGBTQ equality.
When state Senator Dennis Baxley spoke for “hours” according to one Miami reporter for CBS4. Baxley told his colleagues that the bill didn’t single out gays. Finally, however, he talked himself in such circles that he confessed he was scared by kids identifying as gay to be seen as school “celebrities.”
For years, a non-profit group called the Trevor Project has fought the violence and bullying LGBTQ+ children face in schools. A flood of people posted videos talking about how awful it was to grow up as “different” and the bullying they faced. They promised in the videos, “it gets better.”
After hours of denying his bill singled out gays, Senator @dennisbaxley admitted the so-called \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d bill was drafted because he was personally concerned so many kids today identify as gay and see themselves as \u201ccelebrities.\u201d @CBSMiamipic.twitter.com/VI9cGiBNiN
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Scottie's Playtime 