In a significant stride for child protection, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott demonstrated decisive leadership, signing into law a bill that positions Texas as the largest state standing against life-altering transgender procedures for minors.

State Bill 14 takes a firm stand, prohibiting children from receiving puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or undergoing irreversible surgical procedures like double mastectomies for girls who self-identify as boys. The bill further safeguards taxpayer dollars, prohibiting state funding for such procedures for children.

In a moment of resounding clarity during the bill’s debate, state Senator Donna Campbell, the bill’s author, stated, “If there comes a time when a profession such as the medical profession cannot regulate itself to protect patients — protect children — then the government needs to step in.”

Senator Campbell then added, poignantly stating, “Our children need counseling and love, not blades and drugs.”

With this act, the Lone Star State stands shoulder to shoulder with 18 other states, which have also prohibited transgender surgeries for minors. Many of these states extend their bans to both surgical and chemical procedures.

The new Texas law is unequivocal. It explicitly prohibits these procedures “for the purpose of transitioning a child’s biological sex as determined by the sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous profiles of the child or affirming the child’s perception of the child’s sex if that perception is inconsistent with the child’s biological sex.”

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Although Democrats attempted to stymie the bill’s progress using parliamentary tactics, the legislation eventually sailed through both chambers of the Texas legislature.

Interestingly, Democrat Rep. Shawn Thierry sided with the majority, highlighting the scientific evidence demonstrating the long-term impacts of transgender procedures on minors.

In her statement, Thierry explained her support to ban minors from receiving “GnRH-analogs, (i.e. “puberty blockers”), cross sex hormones, and to undergo irreversible surgeries when experiencing gender dysphoria.” She cited her interactions with constituents and her review of “the scientific data in this country and around the globe.”

However, not everyone accepts the new law without contention. Liberal-leaning legal groups, including Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Texas, have threatened legal action against the Texas law.

Ash Hall of the ACLU of Texas voiced his opposition stating, “Transgender people have always been here and will always be here. Our trans youth deserve a world where they can shine alongside their peers, and we will keep advocating for that world in and out of the courts.”

This law was brought into the limelight following a report alleging that a children’s hospital in Houston was performing transgender procedures on children as young as 11.

Christopher Rufo of City Journal reportedly obtained whistleblower documents revealing that the Texas Children’s Hospital, the largest children’s hospital in the U.S., had inserted implantable puberty blockers in multiple children, including an 11-year-old.

This law provides a path for children to obtain therapy, understanding and compassion which should always prevail over radical, irreversible changes in the lives of our youth.

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