Nueces County DA vows to not prosecute families for gender-affirming youth medical care
Kailey E. HuntNueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez vowed in a public statement to not prosecute families whose children receive gender-affirming medical care.
Gonzalez, along with four other district attorneys from across the state, issued the statement on Wednesday that directly opposes Texas Governor Greg Abbott's Feb. 22 order for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate such "gender-transitioning procedures" as abuse — calling the directive "cruel" and "un-American."
Abbott's order came a day after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released an opinion paving the way for the directive — defining gender-affirming care as "child abuse" under current state laws.
Additionally, the opinion states "Texas law imposes reporting requirements upon all
licensed professionals who have direct contact with children who may be subject to such abuse, including doctors, nurses, and teachers, and provides criminal penalties for failure to report such child abuse."
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State lawmakers considered but did not pass similar legislation last year when the legislature was in session.
The statement was signed by Gonzalez, Dallas County DA John Creuzot, Travis County DA José Garza, Bexar County DA Joe Gonzales and Fort Bend County DA Brian Middleton. All of the five district attorneys are Democrats.
The group also represents five of Texas' largest counties by population, which include the cities of Corpus Christi, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and Sugar Land.
"A lot of times we like to show unity whenever we feel there’s an injustice, or when we feel a marginalized group is being attacked," Gonzalez told the Caller-Times Thursday. "When we stand united, I think that we can sometimes combat those types of circumstances."
In the statement, the group said that they "will enforce the Constitution and will not irrationally and unjustifiably interfere with medical decisions made between children, their parents, and their medical physicians."
"We trust the judgment of our state's medical professionals, who dedicate themselves to providing the highest degree of care not only for our transgender youth, but for all youth in our communities," the statement reads.
Ultimately, Gonzalez said, "We want the people and the citizens we protect to know that they are still going to be safe in our communities, regardless of what others may think."
Meanwhile, Marissa Gonzales, a spokesperson with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said her group plans to "follow Texas law as explained in Attorney General opinion KP-0401." That response is in accordance with Abbott's letter to the department's commissioner, Jaime Masters, according to a statement released to the Caller-Times Friday.
Additionally, Gonzales said "there were no pending investigations of child abuse involving the procedures described in that opinion" at the time the directive was received by the department on Tuesday.
It is not clear if any investigations have since taken place.
Kailey E. Hunt covers breaking news and public safety in South Texas. Help support more local coverage with a subscription at caller.com/subscribe.
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