LGBTQ+ activists protest Senate Bill 14 on the Texas Capitol, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Austin, Texas.

Mikala Compton/AP

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Mikala Compton/AP

LGBTQ+ activists protest Senate Bill 14 on the Texas Capitol, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Austin, Texas.

Mikala Compton/AP

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas would develop into the most important state to ban gender-affirming look after minors underneath a invoice despatched Wednesday night time to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has beforehand ordered youngster welfare officers to analyze such remedy as abuse.

The invoice cleared the GOP-controlled Legislature after a remaining vote within the Senate over the objections of Democrats, who used parliamentary maneuvers in latest weeks to delay passage however couldn’t derail it totally.

Texas is now poised to affix not less than 17 different states which have enacted related bans.

Abbott’s workplace didn’t return an e mail searching for remark Wednesday night time. Last yr, Abbott grew to become the primary governor to order the investigation of households who had been receiving care. The investigations had been later halted by a Texas judge.

Every main medical group, together with the American Medical Association, has opposed the bans and supported the medical look after minors when administered appropriately.

Texas is amongst quite a lot of states the place Republican lawmakers have given precedence standing this yr to measures limiting the rights of transgender individuals. Earlier Wednesday, the Texas House additionally gave preliminary approval to a invoice that places restrictions on transgender school athletes.

Transgender rights activists have disrupted the Texas House with protests from the chamber gallery, which have led to state police forcing demonstrators to maneuver outdoors the constructing.

Earlier this month, a Texas hospital’s look after transgender minors came under investigation by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who stated he was searching for proof of alleged “potentially illegal activity” with out elaborating.