Texas, other states, challenging medical establishment request to shut down critics of procedures done to children with gender dysphoria

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is joining 12 other states in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland detailing the dangers of censorship or prosecution surrounding the criticism and scrutiny of some medical procedures being performed on children suffering from gender dysphoria.

The letter is urging Garland to resist a recent request by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and the Children’s Hospital Association for the U.S. Department of Justice to take action against doctors, parents and others who speak out against procedures like chemical castrations and double mastectomies done to minors.

“Nothing matters more than protecting our children,” the letter reads. “We need to make sure we are doing that right. The only way to obtain that certainty is through rigorous interrogation of current practices. Criticism must be welcomed, not silenced.”

The letter goes on to remind Garland of his duty to defend the Constitutional rights of American citizens, including freedom of speech, and also refers to other countries now putting limits on what the letter calls ‘radical procedures’ being performed on children.