Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, is launching an investigation into a hospital for “potentially illegal activity” when it comes to providing gender-transition care to minors.
Paxton’s investigation into Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin focuses on its policies on providing puberty blockers to children, as well as its documentation identifying patients it referred for treatment and counseling, the Associated Press noted.
Reportedly, Dell Children’s operates under a non-profit Catholic health system and is affiliated with the University of Texas. It claimed that it prohibits surgery and and hormone therapy for kids.
According to Click 2 Houston, the investigation was instigated when Project Veritas filmed health care professionals at Dell Children’s about certain kinds of gender transition treatment for children “as young as eight, nine,” (via Click 2 Houston):
The clip of the social worker at Dell Children’s takes up less than a minute of the 11-minute edited video package. In the video, the woman is seen saying that patients could potentially be prescribed puberty blockers after just one appointment with a doctor.
“It’s not something that we want to gatekeep and require you to, you know, come to us 10 times before it’s prescribed,” the woman in the video said.
In a statement, Dell Children’s said they are reviewing the situation and will take appropriate action “to the extent that care provided at our clinic may have been inconsistent with our organization’s position on this important issue.”
“This investigation aims to uncover the truth,” Paxton reportedly said.
Texas currently does not have laws on the books with age limits on so-called “gender-affirming” care. A current bill in the state legislature would prevent youth from getting this type of care.
Last year, in a non-binding legal opinion, Paxton wrote that existing laws could classify parents who get their children “gender-affirming” health care as child abusers.
At that time, in an interview with Townhall, Paxton said that he will do his part to stop gender transition care for minors in the state.
"Here, the answer is clear regarding so-called sex-change procedures, puberty blockers, and hormone therapies. When performed on children, these procedures are 'abuse' under Texas law. They’re illegal. And family courts, family-law government agencies, and the like must do their part to stop it," Paxton said.