TEXAS — Texas in June became the most populous state to ban gender-affirming care for minors. The law is currently set to take effect on Sept. 1.

Texas joined 18 other states in enacting such a ban.

What You Need To Know

  • Five Texas families, along with health care professionals, have sued the state of Texas to try to prevent the ban on gender-affirming care for minors from taking effect on Sept. 1

  • Senate Bill 14 passed during the regular legislative session and was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June

  • Republicans, including Abbott and currently suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton, have called gender-affirming care for minors child abuse 

  • Every major medical organization — including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the America Academy of Pediatrics — has opposed the bans and supported the medical care for minors when administered appropriately

On Wednesday, five Texas families and health care professionals sued Texas to prevent Senate Bill 14 from being implemented.

The GOP-controlled Legislature sent the bill to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in May. Republicans in the Senate took the final vote over the objections from Democrats, who used parliamentary maneuvers to delay passage but could not derail it entirely.

Transgender rights activists disrupted the Texas House with protests from the chamber gallery, which led to state police forcing demonstrators to move outside the building.

The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU, Transgender Law Center, and the law firms Scott Douglass & McConnico LLP and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, LLP.

The lawsuit says the law would ban life-saving medical care for Texas transgender youth and cut off care for those already receiving it.

“Because my daughter might need puberty blockers in the next few months, I am temporarily relocating out of state with her and my other child. Her father will stay behind to continue working in Texas,” Mary Moe, a plaintiff and the mother of Maeve Moe, a 9-year-old transgender girl, is quoted in a news release announcing the lawsuit. “We all intend to return and reunite in our home once it is safe for Maeve to receive this care in the state. I am heartbroken to have to take my children away from their home and their father, even temporarily. But I know that Texas is not a safe place for my daughter if this law forbids her access to this care.”

Every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, has opposed the bans and supported the medical care for youth when administered appropriately. Lawsuits have been filed in several states where bans have been enacted this year.

Last year, Abbott became the first governor to order the investigation of families who were receiving care. A Texas judge later halted the investigations.

Abbott and currently suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton deem gender-affirming care child abuse. Paxton in 2022 wrote an opinion in which he said puberty blockers and sex-change procedures violate section 261.000 of the Texas Family Code.

“There is no doubt that these procedures are ‘abuse’ under Texas law, and thus must be halted,” Paxton wrote. “The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has a responsibility to act accordingly. I’ll do everything I can to protect against those who take advantage of and harm young Texans.”