Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Friday that he is investigating another children’s hospital in Texas for providing gender-affirming care to minors.
This time he is investigating Texas Children’s Hospital, which is based in Houston but has pediatric, urgent-, and specialty-care clinics in Austin.
“I’ve been clear that any ‘gender transitioning’ procedures that hurt our children constitute child abuse under Texas law,” Paxton said in a statement. “Recent reports indicate that Texas Children’s Hospital may be unlawfully performing such procedures, and my office it is working to uncover the truth.”
His statement continues: “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.”
Two weeks ago, Paxton announced his office was investigating Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin. Doctors at the adolescent medicine clinic there have since left the practice.
Under investigation:’No doctors in the clinic’: Dell Children’s clinic loses its doctors amid gender-affirming care inquiry
“At Texas Children’s Hospital, our mission is to provide high-quality care for all patients,” a hospital spokesperson said. “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.”
Providing gender-affirming care — medical care for transgender people — is not illegal in Texas for minors currently, but bills that have passed both the Texas House and Senate are headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk to become law.
Paxton and Abbott also both released letters in February 2022 that equated it to child abuse.
Paxton’s Request to Investigate letter is looking for records of policies around who receives gender-affirming care, what ages they were, and whether parental consent was given in addition to what that care consists of, including puberty blockers and hormones.
Investigating care:AG Paxton announces investigation into Dell hospital on child gender-affirming care
