A Travis County, Texas, district court judge granted the prosecutor's request of a temporary restraining order in a case against the state's Department of Family and Protective Services, CNN reported.
The temporary restraining order prevents the fulfillment of a directive given to DFPS on Feb. 22 from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, which instructed the agency to investigate parents of transgender minors for surgeries or procedures deemed abusive by the state.
The cited justification for Abbott's directive spawns from a Feb. 18 official opinion by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, where he deemed procedures and drugs that have a high probability of causing future infertility as "child abuse."
In response to the order, a petition was filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and two multinational law firms on behalf of the family of a DFPS employee with a transgender minor – who claimed an investigator had already contacted her.
The groups requested a temporary restraining order, temporary injunction, permanent injunction, or declaratory relief.
The ACLU and other petitioners argued Abbott and DFPS commissioner Masters attempted "to legislate by press release" after the Texas legislature "failed to pass legislation criminalizing well-established and medically necessary treatment for adolescents with gender dysphoria."
Following arguments Wednesday, Judge Amy Clark Meachum of the 201st Civil District Court granted the order, which blocks the state from carrying out the governor's directive at least until the broader lawsuit is completed.
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