Texas can continue investigating families seeking gender-affirming care for their transgender children, state Supreme Court says

After a pause on investigations of families seeking gender-affirming care for their transgender children, the Texas Supreme Court said the state’s child protective services investigations can continue while an appeals process plays out on the merits of the case.

The opinion released Friday still restricts the state from investigating the so-called “Doe” family, which brought forward a lawsuit against the state in March after the family was investigated by the Department of Family and Protective Services for seeking care for their trans teen.

And significantly, the opinion also denied that Gov. Greg Abbott had any legal authority or power to order DFPS to investigate these families in the first place.

A legal battle began when state Attorney General Ken Paxton, in late February, declared gender-affirming surgical procedures for children and prescribing drugs that affect puberty to be considered child abuse. In response to Paxton’s legal opinion, Abbott directed the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) “to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of any reported instances of these abusive procedures in the State of Texas.”