The state’s Supreme Court struck down a lower court’s injunction blocking the investigations.

A February opinion issued by Attorney General Ken Paxton stated that some treatments given to minors, such as off-label use of prescription medications to delay puberty, can cause physical and emotional harm to children.

Following the letter, Governor Greg Abbott issued an order to investigate parents who provide such treatments to their minor children as potential child abuse.

A state judge in March ruled the directive unconstitutional and said Abbott did not have the authority to issue a directive that acted as a new law in its effect.

Friday’s Supreme Court decision overturned that injunction and allowed investigations to continue. The court ruled the injunction could remain in place only for the family that filed the original lawsuit as its case moves forward, but said it was otherwise overly broad.

The lawsuit was brought by a mother who was an employee of the Department of Family and Protective Services in the state. She was placed on leave and put under investigation based on her 16-year old biologically male child receiving hormone treatments.

Attorneys for the state have said the lawsuit has no merit as the only action that had been taken by investigators was a single interview with the family.

The family’s case now moves back to the lower courts who will determine whether the state-ordered investigations violate the rights of families.

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