Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday announced an investigation into whether gender-affirming care procedures were “unlawfully performed on minor children” at Austin’s Dell Children’s Medical Center.
Paxton’s announcement cited “a number of recent reports about potentially illegal activity” at the children’s hospital. He did not specify what laws were suspected to have been broken, but issued a “Request to Examine,” asking Dell Children's to submit documents related to the hospital’s policies on the use of hormone blockers, gender-affirming care counseling and related treatment.
In response to the investigation, Dell Children’s said it did not prescribe hormone therapy or provide surgery for gender dysphoria treatment in minors.
“We are conducting a thorough review of this situation,” the hospital group said in a written statement. “To the extent that care provided at our clinic may have been inconsistent with our organization’s position on this important issue, we intend to take appropriate action.”
Word of the investigation comes on the same day as the Texas House of Representatives’ discussion of Senate Bill 14, a bill that would outlaw gender-affirming care for minors, such as surgery and hormone blockers.
In February last year, Paxton released a legal opinion classifying certain gender-affirming care procedures as child abuse under Texas law and ordering the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents who approve gender-affirming care for their children. Multiple investigations of this nature remain tied up in court.
