Texas attorney general Ken Paxton has been sued by a Seattle position hospital after he reportedly requested medical records regarding potential gender-affirming treatment for Texas under-18s.
After Paxton reportedly requested documents from under-18s originally from Texas who he believed had undergone gender-affirming care, Seattle Children’s Hospital filed a legitimate complaint against the Texas legislator in December.
The medical claimed that Paxton, a fervent Republican who has made several anti-trans movements in the past, had gone too far in trying to obtain medical records outside of state borders.
The complaint claims that the demands “represent an illegal attempt to look into and restrict potential interstate trade and travel for Texas residents to another state.”
Texas is one of many states that has properly passed legislation restricting or outright outlawing gender-affirming medical care for trans under-18s, including literally reversible puberty blockers.
No minors are allowed to have sex validation procedures somewhere in the US or the world, but the state law also forbids gender-affirming therapies for trans under-18s.
According to reports, the doctor responded to Paxton’s request in November, which asked it to create records listing the medications given to Texas-based children and the number of people under the age of 18 who had received them, as well as treatment guidance documents pertaining to trans healthcare.
Along with it, the state requested details about the Seattle Children’s Hospital physicians who had cared for transgender children.
Ashley Speller, a spokesperson for Seattle Children’s Hospital, told HuffPost that in response to the request, it followed the law and filed the complaint with the court to “protect secret patient information relating to gender-affirming care services at our organization.”
In the complaint, it claimed that not only was the request probably unconstitutional, but it was also unable to respond to the letter in accordance with a law that Democrat governor Jay Inslee signed that sought to safeguard those seeking gender-affirming care in Washington.
In Texas, Ken Paxton made a similar demand for transgender drivers ‘ certificates.
Paxton has previously demanded an alarmingly recognisable listing of trans people in a specific area while serving as solicitor general.
According to reports, the Republican demanded a list of all transgender people in Texas in December 2022, including data on their driving licenses, private information, and more.
Paxton requested the” total number of changes from male to female and female to male” on driver’s licenses “in the last 24 months” in a request to the Department of Public Safety ( DPS).
Following the demand, the attorney general was not given any information, according to DPS in a statement, adding that no such information exists or could be “accurately produced.”
Additionally, the DPS asserted that the demand from Paxton’s business was not processed through authorized channels for an unspecified reason.
Sarah Warbelow, a lawyer for the Human Rights Campaign, described the demand as” chilling” and said Paxton’s attempt to destroy state agencies is “terrifying.”
Warbelow continued,” This development demonstrates how far they are ready to discriminate against transgender people.”