Seattle hospital won’t turn over gender-affirming care records in lawsuit settlement with Texas
DALLAS– DALLAS (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has withdrawn a request for a Seattle hospital to turn over data on gender-affirming treatments that may be given to Texas children as part of a settlement announced Monday.
Seattle Children’s Hospital filed the lawsuit against Paxton’s office in December in response to the Republican appearing to cross state lines to investigate transgender health care. Paxton, a staunch conservative who has contributed to GOP efforts focused on transgender rights, sent similar letters to hospitals in Texas last year.
The Seattle hospital said in a statement that it had “successfully challenged” the “overreaching requirements to obtain confidential patient information.” An Austin judge dismissed the lawsuit Friday, saying the parties have resolved their dispute.
Texas is among several states that have enacted laws limiting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
The hospital’s lawsuit included a copy of the letter from Paxton’s office, which, among other things, asked the hospital to provide records identifying medications given to children living in Texas; the number of Texas children receiving treatment; and documents identifying the “standard protocol or guidelines” used for treatment.
As part of the settlement, the parties agreed that Seattle Children’s Hospital would revoke its registration to do business in Texas, according to court records. But a spokesperson for the hospital said in a statement that they do not operate health care facilities or provide gender-affirming care in Texas.
In court filings, the hospital had previously said it had a “limited number” of people who worked remotely and lived in Texas, but none of them were involved in gender-affirming care. It also said it did not advertise its services in Texas.
“When we just started asking questions, they decided to leave the state of Texas and forfeit the opportunity to do business here,” Paxton said in a news release Monday. He said Texas will “vigorously protect” children from gender-affirming treatment that he called “harmful.”
Texas law bans transgender minors from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers and menopause surgeries, even though medical experts say such surgical procedures are rarely performed on children.
In Washington, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed a law aimed at protecting minors seeking gender-affirming care there, part of a wave of legislation in Democratic-led states aimed at providing shelter for those seeking gender-affirming treatment.