Judge temporarily blocks Texas from investigating parents over gender-affirming medical care for trans teen

• A Texas agency has been temporarily blocked from investigating the parents of a trans teen.
• The ACLU said it's "wrong and is opposed by health care professionals and child welfare experts."

A Texas judge ruled to temporarily block the state from probing a family seeking gender-affirming medical care for their transgender teenager, The 19th reported Wednesday.

District Judge Amy Clark Meachum, in Travis County, said the parents "face the imminent and ongoing deprivation of their constitutional rights, the potential loss of necessary medical care, and the stigma attached to being the subject of an unfounded child abuse investigation."

The temporary order does not stop the state from investigating other parents in the state who may be seeking gender-affirming medical care for their trans children.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott, Jaime Masters, commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Service on Tuesday.

"In addition to being outside of the scope of their authority and clearly motivated by partisan politics, this policy is wrong and is opposed by health care professionals and child welfare experts," the ACLU published in a statement Tuesday. "The end result won't be that fewer kids grow up to be trans, it will be that fewer kids grow up."

Abbott's directive would essentially allow state authorities to audit parents who let their trans children rely on gender-affirming care for child abuse. It is antithetical to his recent push for parental rights.

The Office of the Texas Governor and a spokesperson for DFPS did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.