Dallas prosecutor says he won’t charge families over transgender youth care

A top Dallas prosecutor said on Wednesday he will not prosecute families whose children receive transgender youth care, The Dallas Morning News reported. 

In a statement, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot (D) along with four other district attorneys in the state, called Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and state Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) interpretation of the law “un-American,” calling this another step in “a continued onslaught on personal freedoms.”

“We will enforce the Constitution and will not irrationally and unjustifiably interfere with medical decisions made between children, and their parents, and their medical physicians,” the statement reads.

The statement was also signed by  Travis County DA José Garza (D), Bexar County DA Joe Gonzales (D), Fort Bend County DA Brian Middleton (D), and Nueces County DA Mark Gonzalez (D), according to the Morning News. 

Abbott issued an order on Tuesday that requires state agencies to open child-abuse investigations into reports of children receiving gender-affirming procedures. 

“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,” Abbott said in a statement. 

Paxton also issued an opinion on Monday that certain types of medical care used on transgender youth are a form of child abuse, the Morning News reported. 

This comes as the Biden Administration said on Wednesday that Abbott’s order is dangerous for state leaders to label such medical care abuse. 

Creuzot, who is up for re-election, has previously clashed with Abbott in 2019 when the governor accused Creuzot of stoking crime after he established policies against prosecuting low-level marijuana possession and Class B misdemeanor thefts of personal items, Morning News noted.

“Conservative officials in Texas and other states across the country should stop inserting themselves into health care decisions that create needless tension between pediatricians and their patients,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said. “No parent should face the agony of a politician standing in the way of accessing life-saving care for their child.”