AUSTIN – Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday directed the state’s health and human services commission to investigate whether a South Texas medical facility is advertising to attract international patients who want to give birth in the U.S.
“American citizenship is not for sale and Texas will not permit our healthcare system to be used as a magnet for birth tourism,” Abbott said in the letter addressed to Stephanie Muth, the executive commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
The commission has referred the matter to the agency’s inspector general, said spokesman James Rivera.
Birth tourism is the idea that pregnant women are traveling to the U.S. to give birth so their children receive U.S. citizenship.
The letter asks the commission to look into Mission Regional Medical Center in Mission, Texas, after reports surfaced on social media last week that the medical facility ran advertisements in Spanish showing how much it would cost to deliver a baby at the hospital.
Kathleen Avila, spokesperson for Mission Regional Medical Center, said in an email Tuesday that to eliminate any “unintended misunderstanding,” the advertising material is no longer being used. The hospital will cooperate with local and state officials, she added.
“Like hospitals across the country and throughout the region, we share information about the healthcare services we provide,” Avila said. “We do not support or facilitate any unlawful activity and work to comply with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations.”
Abbott’s letter comes as some Texas Republicans have called for the state to take action after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to eliminate birthright citizenship. The court upheld that anyone born on U.S. territories, absent rare circumstances, is automatically a U.S. Citizen.
Some Republicans have called for Texas officials to deny birth certificates to the children of non-citizens following the Supreme Court’s ruling. State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, called on Abbott to call a special session to eliminate “birth tourism” in Texas.
Abbott’s letter said he will ask state lawmakers in next year’s legislative session to eliminate birth tourism.
In 2024, the Centers for Disease Control reported almost 9,600 births to foreign residents out of the more than 3.6 million births that year. That’s about 26 births out of every 10,000.
The figures from the CDC do not distinguish whether individuals traveled to the U.S. for the sole purpose of giving birth.
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