Hospital stops therapies after gender-confirming care order
HOUSTON (AP) — The nation’s largest pediatric hospital has announced it has stopped gender-affirming therapies after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the state’s child welfare agency to investigate reports of gender-confirming care for kids as abuse. Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston said it made its decision after reviewing Abbott’s order. The order came after Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton last month released a nonbinding legal opinion that labeled certain gender-confirming treatments as “child abuse.” The hospital said Friday its decision was made “to safeguard our health care professionals and impacted families from potential criminal legal ramifications.” Civil rights groups and parents of transgender children have called the order cruel.
