For Immediate Release
For more Information: info@ruthinstitute.org
Texas Calls “Trans Surgery” for Kids Child Abuse
In a letter to the state’s governor, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services stated, “Mutilation of a child’s genitalia through reassignment surgery is child abuse, subject to all of the rules and procedures pertaining to child abuse.”
“I applaud Texas for this decision,” said Ruth Institute President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D. “Texas joins a growing list of entities that are taking a dim view of these so-called medical treatments.”
Government agencies and hospital boards in the UK, Sweden, and Finland, have taken steps to limit these destructive practices, including puberty blockers.
“It’s about time,” said Morse. “Surgery and hormone regimes to change the sex of the body are experimental and, in many cases, irreversible. Informed consent by minors is logically impossible under the circumstances. Children deserve protection from adults who would harm them in the service of the irrational transgender ideology.”
The Texas Department’s directive was issued in response to an inquiry from Governor Gregg Abbott. It assured him, “Allegations involving genital mutilation of a child will be promptly and thoroughly investigated.” Further, failure of professionals, “who have cause to believe that a child has suffered abuse, is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $4,000, or both.”
Morse added: “The Department has its terminology right. These procedures constitute ‘mutilation,’ hence child abuse. Sex can’t be surgically ‘reassigned.’ The sex of a child is determined at birth. Through hormone treatment and surgery, he can be made to take on the physical characteristics of the opposite sex, but he will not, and cannot, become that sex. States like Texas are definitely moving in the right direction.”
The Ruth Institute has a Transgender Resource Guide with videos, interviews, and research that counter the transgender ideology with facts and logic.
There was also an emphasis on transgender activism at the Institute’s Fourth Annual Summit for Survivors of the Sexual Revolution last month.