When I think of the term “child abuse,” I think of someone delivering physical harm to a child, or tormenting them emotionally, or hurling epithets in an effort to denigrate them.
Getting medical care for a transgender child, one who wants to change their gender identity? No. Not … even … close.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been accused by the right-wing nut jobs running against him in this year’s Republican Party primary of not being “conservative enough,” has declared his intention to label the transgender matter I just described as “child abuse.”
That is a gigantic step toward reprehensible governance by someone who has disappointed me greatly ever since he became governor in 2015. My disappointment has now become disgust.
The Texas Tribune reports:
Shelly Skeen, a senior attorney with Lambda Legal, said it’s highly unlikely that a judge would justify child abuse charges or removal of a child based solely on the use of gender-affirming therapy.
“Texas law has a very clear definition of what child abuse is, and it’s not this,” Skeen said.
… Child abuse investigations based on gender-affirming care are almost unheard of in Texas. Officials at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services say that there have been three reports last week “meeting the description in the AG opinion and Governor’s directive” but offered no other details. No investigations have been launched, officials said.
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/02/28/texas-transgender-child-abuse/
Greg Abbott has lost his marbles if he thinks he can obtain a successful prosecution on gender-affirming care by calling it a case of “child abuse.”
We are heading down the slipperiest of slopes with this kind of nutty proclamation coming from the Texas governor’s office.
