Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of Texas, is requesting medical records of young people in Texas who have received gender-affirming treatment from a Georgia healthcare clinic. This is at least his second request for such records.
On Friday night, QueerMed confirmed that they had received the request. According to QueerMed, it stopped providing services to young people in Texas after the state outlawed transition-related care last year. The clinic’s founder claimed that before the ban went into effect, the Attorney General had asked for information about patients going back to January 1, 2022.
According to the clinic, Paxton requested confidential information about Texas residents who received telemedicine treatment in Texas prior to and after the ban and received care outside of Texas. They claimed that the demand was very similar to one the Attorney General had sent to Seattle Children’s Hospital the previous year.
Paxton requested a variety of client data from Seattle Children’s, including the number of young patients they have treated in Texas, the names of Texas laboratories that administer children’s testing, medications that are prescribed to kids, and diagnoses for those kids.
Seattle Children’s filed a civil administrative request against the Texas Attorney General in December in response to that request.
On November 17, the same day Seattle Children’s received a similar demand for documents, Paxton sent his demand to them, according to QueerMed. Due to email delays, QueerMed received the request on December 7. The Houston Chronicle first reported that it had received the letter on Friday night.
In addition to never publicly discussing his request to Seattle Children’s, the Office of the Attorney General did not respond to requests for comment on the QueerMed investigation.
The Republican-led effort in Texas to prevent Texas’ trans children from receiving transition-related treatment like puberty blockers and testosterone therapy has intensified in response to Paxton’s demands. Despite the fact that significant health organizations contend that gender-affirming treatment is lifesaving for trans children who experience higher rates of suicide attempts and mental health issues than their cisgender peers, last year the state outlawed doctors from prescribing such treatments to minors.
Senate Bill 14 of the legislation also made it unlawful to operate on children. Before the law was passed, Texas Pediatric Society leader Louis Appel stated that he was unaware of any minors in Texas who underwent bottom surgery, a broad term for genital surgery.
There is “zero basis” in the law for Paxton’s calls to hospitals outside of Texas, according to Karen Loewy, an attorney with Lambda Legal representing businesses and Texas families of transgender children trying to block SB 14 in court.
“It’s hard to miss that this is a fundamental part of the AG’s scorched-earth strategy for persecuting transgender children and their families, who are being forced to travel outside of Texas in order to provide their children with the medical care they require,” according to Loewy.
Texas is one of 19 states that have recently passed laws that limit minors’ access to gender-affirming care. Additionally, Republican lawmakers have worked to limit transgender children from using specific public restrooms and participating in sports teams that are not in line with their biological sex.
According to Loewy, Paxton has requested medical information from “a couple” of different companies. She declined to give the precise number or names of the companies the Attorney General has contacted.
A QueerMed representative was unable to reply immediately on the clinic’s response to the Attorney General.
