The largest Texas Children’s Hospital has said that it will pause providing puberty blockers for gender transition last Friday after the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton tagged the practice as “child abuse”.
The hospital primarily based its decision on Attorney General Paxton's claims in his non-bonding Opinion No. KP-0401 last month stated that "Each of the "sex change" procedures and treatments enumerated above, when performed on children, can legally constitute child abuse under several provisions of chapter 261 of the Texas Family Code."
As a response, the Texas Children's Hospital is committed to its mission of "creating a healthier future for all children, including transgender children, within the bounds of the law."
"This step was taken to safeguard our health care professionals and impacted families from potential criminal legal ramifications," the hospital added.
"Glad to hear that today Texas Children's Hospital halted their child-abuse procedures," replied Paxton in his Tweet.
The Attorney General strongly claimed practices such as removing genitalia to minors and prescription of puberty-blocking drugs can cause "mental or emotional injury to a child that results in an observable and material impairment in the child's growth, development, or psychological funding."
Added on the hospital's statement, it includes the appeal of Republican Governor Greg Abbott regarding the classification of "genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery" as child abuse since the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has granted it last summer.
However, this classification seems doesn't sit well for President Joe Biden as said in his statement last week: "These actions are terrifying many families in Texas and beyond. And they must stop."
According to his statement, the Governor's actions were just like so many "anti-transgender attacks proliferation in states across the country," accusing the Governor of just scoring "political points".
"Respected medical organizations have said that access to gender-affirming care for transgender children can benefit mental health, lower suicide rates, and improve other health outcomes," the president insisted.
The American Medical Association also voiced its opposition to the National Governors Association's acts of interfering in the "health care of transgender children."
In contrast, the American College of Pediatricians has called out 'using puberty-blockers on children with gender dysphoria and such treatments' as "experimental."
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also slammed the Texas Government's conclusion regarding medical practices for transgender youth. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra reaffirmed its department's support towards the LGBTQ Children stating, "denials of health care based on gender identity are illegal, as is restricting doctors and health care providers from providing care because of a patient's gender identity."
In an article published by The Christian Post, the Food and Drug Administration hasn't authorized the use of puberty-blocking for gender transitions but agreed with such prescriptions among children who start puberty at a young age.
In May 2021, Newsmagazine program CBS "60 Minutes" segment contended to not rush "gender-affirming" among children to avoid adverse health consequences of transgender medicalization. They featured 'Detransitioners' who later regretted their past decision of "gender affirming."
