February | 2022 | QUIGLEY'S CARTOONS

The boiler plate reason offered to justify every attack on public education, books in libraries, and what history will be taught and which facts will be omitted, glossed over, or euphemized is that the education of the children, their nurturing, their healthcare, what they see in public, and what adults need to do to mold their lives to snuggle the children into a false belief that all is right for everybody all the time, is the protection of “parental freedom” and no public entity should control parental choice.

The Republican Attorney General of Texas has issued an opinion classifying gender-affirming medical care for young people as child abuse. Then, in a letter to the Department of Family and Protective Services Governor Abbott reminded the agency that it “is responsible for protecting children from abuse” and directing it to investigate families who are receiving such treatment, and ordering teachers, doctors, and caregivers to report trans children to whoever in a chain of command a person is to report such things. For teachers that would be a school administrator who would have pass this on to someone further up and do an investigation that will involve more people as it progresses.

He reminded all professionals in the state of Texas that

“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”.

If a child were to tell a friend at school who could pass the word on purposely or by a slip of the tongue or a teacher directly, with Abbot’s understanding of things, whether ready or not, that kid’s secret is out and what results from this will fall on that kid.

In my experience I have heard things said sometimes in total innocence, but still harmful, and have heard things, even if well intentioned, that did harm because it came from an ill-informed place, and I have seen and heard the harm because of a refusal to accept new information.

Imagine being a loving parent who has become informed and supportive of your child, sometimes a long process the pubic does not see as it assumes it is all done an in instantaneous moment instead of what it really takes, and some of that is an emotional toll, and having your child removed from your home because you were a loving and affirming parent but you were not in agreement with politicians and a religious minority with a loud voice who claim a parent has the right to determine their child’s health and education.

They are exercising a form of selective parental support.