Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Friday that an investigation would be launched to see whether or not Texas Children’s Hospital is “unlawfully” treating patients undergoing a gender transition.
Paxton made a similar announcement about investigating Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin two weeks ago. Media outlets reported that the following week, doctors who treated transgender adolescents at Dell Children’s facility left the facility, and patients and their families began hearing that their appointments had been canceled.
To date, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas has not signed a bill that would restrict transgender minors’ access to health care. This Thursday, the state Senate unanimously approved the bill’s final version.
It will go into force after the law is signed on September 1. Since a district court judgment last year, the state instruction to look into medical care for transgender adolescents as child ab*se has been put on hold.
Paxton’s office did not reply to Friday afternoon’s inquiries, but he claims that supporting children through a gender transition is ab*sive.
“Recent reports indicate that Texas Children’s Hospital may be unlawfully performing such procedures, and my office is working to uncover the truth,” Paxton’s declaration stated.
“I am committed to investigating any entity in our state to ensure that our children are protected. Though many unhinged activists compromising the healthcare field think otherwise, children should not be treated as science experiments. Doctors and hospitals should not be pushing mutilative and irreversible ‘gender transitioning’ procedures that will negatively impact innocent children for the rest of their lives.”
On Friday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman issued a statement: “At Texas Children’s Hospital, our mission is to provide high-quality care for all patients. Throughout the policy debate surrounding gender medicine, our healthcare professionals have always and will continue to prioritize the care of our patients within the bounds of the law.”
Dallas Morning News shared the tweet about the same incident on his tweeter handle. You also check down below.
Paxton to investigate second Texas hospital over gender-affirming care
https://t.co/U2MprguqSH— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) May 19, 2023
The spokeswoman stressed that the hospital would not cancel transgender appointments.
Every major U.S. medical group supports puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender youth—rare surgeries. The American Psychiatric Association defines gender dysphoria as psychological pain and anxiety caused by a mismatch between a person’s gender identity and biological s*x. Gender transition treatment can safely and effectively alleviate it.
Both AG investigations follow right-wing reports about Texas transgender care. After Manhattan Institute activist tweets and an article, Texas Children’s announced. The activist revealed evidence that the hospital “secretly” provided gender transition care. His tweets showed patient medical records with names obscured.
The Manhattan Institute declined to comment.
Harris County attorney Christian Menefee urged “swift and appropriate action” to address the records leak and labeled Paxton’s inquiry “legally baseless.”
“This illicit release of medical records puts children and their families at risk, and swift action must be taken to ensure that this does not happen again,” he stated.
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“I have spoken with representatives at Texas Children’s Hospital and understand that the hospital will fully investigate how this happened and notify all impacted families if their information was released. I expect they will fully disclose what they find to the United States Department of Health and Human Services. If a hospital employee leaked these medical records, they must be fired. If it was a hospital vendor, their contract must be terminated.”
Menefee said improper medical record releases might violate HIPAA. HHS may investigate possible infractions. The Texas Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division handles medical privacy issues.
Texas Children’s spokeswoman said the hospital investigated and informed federal authorities.
“Texas Children’s has zero tolerance for these actions and will fully cooperate with law enforcement to ensure that those responsible are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” a spokeswoman stated.
Romy Kaplan, who represents many families whose data was hacked, said, “The need to maintain the confidentiality of medical records is a basic right as Texans and Americans.”
“Sadly, there are unhinged activists undermining our children’s safety and medical privacy,” Kaplan stated. “We hope he investigates and discovers the perpetrator and brings them to justice.”
Last year, Texas Children’s temporarily ceased administering hormone therapy for transgender patients in response to state authorities’ contentious instruction to examine medical treatments for transgender youth as child ab*se. After the courts stopped the decision, the hospital continued treating transs*xual patients.
Houston transgender man Lou Weaver said the new investigations increase the transgender community’s dread and uncertainty. He said many are considering leaving the state for treatment, but not everyone can.
“It’s scary how close we are to saying that people like me and the next generation of the trans population are not going to be well taken care of,” he says. “… We had taken steps to a positive place, and now they really don’t want us here.”