DALLAS– DALLAS (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is withdrawing a request for a Seattle hospital to turn over records relating to gender-affirming treatment potentially given to Texas children as part of a plea deal announced Monday. fair.
Seattle Children’s Hospital filed the lawsuit against Paxton’s office in December in response to the Republican appearing to go beyond state borders to investigate transgender health care. Paxton, a staunch conservative who helped drive Republican Party efforts targeting transgender people’s rights, sent similar letters to Texas hospitals last year.
The Seattle hospital said in a statement that it had “successfully combatted” “unreasonable demands to obtain confidential patient information.” A judge in Austin dismissed the lawsuit on Friday, saying the parties had resolved the dispute.
Texas is among the states that have enacted laws restricting or prohibiting gender-affirming medical care for trans minors.
The hospital’s lawsuit included a copy of the letter from Paxton’s office, which, among other requests, asked the hospital to produce records identifying medications administered to children living in Texas; the number of Texas children who received treatment; and documents that identified the “standard protocol or guidance” used for treatment.
As part of the settlement, according to court records, the parties agreed that Seattle Children’s Hospital would withdraw its registration to transact business in Texas. But a hospital spokesperson said in a statement that they do not operate healthcare facilities or provide gender-affirming care in Texas.
In court filings, the hospital had previously stated that it had a “limited number” of people who work remotely and live in Texas, but that none were engaged in gender-affirming care. It also said it did not advertise its services in Texas.
“When we simply started asking questions, they decided to leave the state of Texas and lose the opportunity to do business here,” Paxton said in a press release Monday. He said Texas will “vigorously protect” children from gender-affirming treatment that he called “harmful.”
Texas law prevents transgender minors from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers and transition 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, part of a wave of legislation in Democratic-led states aimed at providing refuge to those seeking gender-affirming treatment.
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