AG Paxton announces investigation into Dell hospital on child gender-affirming care

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday announced his office is looking into whether Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin performed unlawful gender transitioning procedures on minors, hours before Texas House Democrats successfully delayed, for the second time this week, a vote on a bill that would ban certain medical treatments for transgender kids.

Democratic representatives used a procedural tactic called a "point of order" to force the delay, a common strategy lawmakers use to kill or stall bills. After the delay on the House floor, Republicans sent Senate Bill 14 back to committee, which convened later in the day to fix the technical error that was the subject of the point of order.

Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, who chairs the House Calendars committee, tweeted that the bill will return to the House floor for debate next week. "It won’t be watered down. It will pass and become law," Burrows wrote.

Earlier in the week, Democrats had successfully delayed a debate on the bill until Friday, citing a typo in the legislation.

The delays are a significant, though possibly temporary, win for House Democrats, as the legislative session closes in on key deadlines that could kill pieces of legislation.

Around the time the House convened Friday morning, Paxton announced his office was investigating Dell Children's.

Paxton's office says there have been "a number of recent reports about potentially illegal activity at Dell Children’s Medical Center, and this investigation aims to uncover the truth.” The office did not elaborate on those reports, and a written request for information by Paxton's lawyers to the hospital did not cite any specific incidents.

Paxton is demanding that Dell respond by June 4 with its policies on puberty blockers and documents identifying patients it has referred for treatment or counseling. His office also seeks information on the use of puberty blockers on minors without parental consent.

Paxton says he wants to determine if any state laws have been violated or any misrepresentations have been made to parents and patients.

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Dell Children's said in a statement that it prohibits surgery and prescribing hormone therapy for the treatment of gender transitioning.

"We are conducting a thorough review of this situation," the medical group said. "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."

Paxton's investigation increases tension among Texas Republicans and Democrats over children transitioning to a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth. Earlier this week, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested two people and banned another from the Capitol after a protest in the House chamber.

Before the arrests, House Speaker Dade Phelan warned visitors against making outbursts. When the outbursts persisted, Phelan ordered the public to clear the gallery.

SB 14, which already passed the upper chamber, will go to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk if the House passes it as expected.

Paxton's office is paying close attention to gender transitioning for children and parents who are letting it happen. In March 2022, Texas Children's Hospital in Houston announced it had decided to stop hormone-related prescription therapies after Abbott, acting on Paxton's legal opinion, ordered the state’s child welfare agency to investigate reports of gender-confirming care as possible child abuse.

More recently, in March, Paxton asked an appeals court to lift an injunction that stopped the state from conducting such child abuse investigations.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: AG Paxton investigating Austin hospital on child gender-affirming care