Seattle hospital challenges Texas AG over out-of-state probe about gender-affirming care for youth

By Melissa Alonso, CNN

(CNN) — A Seattle hospital filed a petition this month against the Texas Attorney General’s Office in an effort to halt a demand by the office for the hospital to turn over information on children who were Texas residents who sought gender-affirming care.

According to the filing, which was made on December 7, the office sought “documents and information” about Texas residents treated by Seattle Children’s Hospital and “physicians associated with” the hospital.

Specifically, the office’s demands sought “information regarding diagnoses, medications prescribed, laboratory testing, and treatment protocols utilized by physicians in the treatment of individual patients, during the period of January 1, 2022, to the present,” the petition said.

“Seattle Children’s is expressly prohibited by Washington law from responding to the demands,” said the hospital’s petition which was filed in Travis County, Texas. “Additionally, the demands represent an unconstitutional attempt to investigate and chill potential interstate commerce and travel for Texas residents seeking care in another state,” it said. The hospital also challenged the Texas Attorney General’s Office jurisdiction in the filing.

In a statement to CNN, a hospital spokesperson said, “Seattle Children’s took legal action to protect private patient information related to gender-affirming care services at our organization sought by the Texas Attorney General. Seattle Children’s complies with the law for all health care services provided. Due to active litigation, we cannot comment further at this time.”

CNN reached out to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office for comment Friday but has not heard back.

Last year, Paxton declared gender-affirming surgical procedures on children and prescribing drugs affecting puberty to be considered “child abuse,” a claim seen by many as an attack on transgender children, CNN has reported.

In response, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services “to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of any reported instances of these abusive procedures in the State of Texas.”

But LGBTQ rights advocates sued, and a district judge ruled in September 2022 the state cannot pursue investigations into parents providing gender-affirming care if their children and those families are part of one of the groups suing the state, CNN reported previously.

CNN’s Sara Smart contributed to this report.

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