The Texas attorney general\u2019s office and a Houston children\u2019s hospital have reached a settlement over gender-affirming care, the attorney general\u2019s office announced, which will require the hospital to pay millions to the state and establish a \u201cDetransition Clinic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attorney General Ken Paxton\u2019s office announced on Friday morning that it has reached a settlement with Texas Children\u2019s Hospital in Houston. Paxton\u2019s office began investigating the hospital in 2023<\/a>, alleging that the hospital had provided gender-affirming care in violation of the state\u2019s ban on such care for minors.<\/p>\n In a statement, Texas Children\u2019s wrote that it has complied with all state laws and that it cooperated with the attorney general\u2019s office throughout the past three years of the investigation. The statement described the settlement agreement as a \u201cdifficult decision\u201d that the hospital made in order to conclude \u201ca chapter that has been wrought with falsehoods and distractions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo be clear\u00a0\u2014 we are settling to protect our resources from endless and costly litigation,\u201d the statement said. \u201cThis settlement will allow us to redirect those precious resources to focus on the life-saving care and groundbreaking discoveries of our exceptional clinicians and scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the settlement, the hospital will pay $10 million for billing gender-affirming care to Texas Medicaid, including the use of what the attorney general\u2019s office described as \u201cfalse diagnosis codes.\u201d The settlement also requires Texas Children\u2019s Hospital to establish a \u201cDetransition Clinic\u201d that aims to treat patients who were previously given gender-affirming care. The attorney general\u2019s announcement described such a clinic as a way to \u201creverse the damage caused by ideologically-motivated physicians.\u201d<\/p>\n The hospital will fund the clinic\u2019s services for first five years, according to Paxton\u2019s announcement, and provide those services at no charge to patients. The settlement also requires the hospital to terminate five doctors who allegedly provided gender-affirming care.<\/p>\n \u201cI applaud Texas Children\u2019s Hospital for changing course and committing to being a part of the solution by agreeing to form a first-of-its kind Detransition Clinic,\u201d Paxton wrote in the announcement. \u201cUnder my watch, I will investigate and bring the full force of the law against any Texas hospital that abuses children with harmful medical interventions to \u2018transition\u2019 kids.\u201d<\/p>\n The state has banned all forms of gender-affirming care for minors since 2023. Several medical associations have publicly criticized bans on gender-affirming care for minors, such as the ban in Texas. Those criticisms have focused on the governmental interference into the patient-physician relationship, which the medical associations denounce.<\/p>\n Paxton has also sued several doctors\u00a0for allegedly providing gender-affirming care to minors. Among Paxton\u2019s lawsuits, three have specifically named Dallas-area doctors<\/a> and the Dallas-based Children\u2019s Health system.<\/p>\n Over the past several years, Texas lawmakers have passed numerous laws focused on transgender people, especially minors. In 2022,\u00a0Gov. Greg Abbott classified gender-affirming care for minors as \u201cchild abuse.\u201d In 2025, legislators passed a bathroom ban aimed at making people use bathrooms that align with their birth sex. And, in the wake of another 2025 law, some Texas school districts have prohibited teachers from using a\u00a0trans child\u2019s chosen name.<\/p>\n Subscribe<\/p>\n