AUSTIN \u2013 Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday directed the state\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerican citizenship is not for sale and Texas will not permit our healthcare system to be used as a magnet for birth tourism,\u201d Abbott said in the letter<\/a> addressed to Stephanie Muth, the executive commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services Commission.<\/p>\n The commission has referred the matter to the agency’s inspector general, said spokesman James Rivera. \u00a0 <\/p>\n Birth tourism is the idea that pregnant women are traveling to the U.S. to give birth so their children receive U.S. citizenship.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Kathleen Avila, spokesperson for Mission Regional Medical Center, said in an email Tuesday that to eliminate any \u201cunintended misunderstanding,\u201d the advertising material is no longer being used.\u00a0 The hospital will cooperate with local and state officials, she added.<\/p>\n \u201cLike hospitals across the country and throughout the region, we share information about the healthcare services we provide,\u201d Avila said. \u201cWe do not support or facilitate any unlawful activity and work to comply with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n Abbott\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n