March 13, 2022
Access Employee/Staff Email from Mark A. Wallace, CEO at Texas Children’s Hospital here
Access the Gender medicine Website for the specifics at Texas Childrens here
In August 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott requested Texas Department of Family and Protective Services assist to determine certain surgeries performed on children are not considered child abuse as Texas already outlaws female genital mutilation see TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 167.001. The surgeries under question are “procedure that will sterilize the child, such as orchiectomy or hysterectomy, or remove otherwise healthy body parts, such as penectomy or mastectomy”.
Access pdf of Gov. Abbott letter to the Commissioner here
The Texas House and Senate passed TEX. FAM. CODE § 261.001(1)(C) which states subjecting a child to genital mutilation through reassignment surgery creates a “genuine threat of substantial harm from physical injury to the child.”
Gov. Abbott requested a “determination of whether genital mutilation of a child for purposes of gender transitioning through reassignment surgery constitutes child abuse”. The letter stated further, “determination should consider making explicit what is already implicit in the statute: that genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery is child abuse. The determination should consider whether an exception should be made for medically necessary procedures for a child whose body parts have been affected by illness or trauma; who is born with a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development, such as the presence of both ovarian and testicular tissue; or who does not have the normal sex chromosome structure for male or female as determined through genetic testing”.
