Texas sues doctor for providing gender-affirming care in first of its kind lawsuit

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has filed the first-of-its-kind lawsuit against a medical provider for allegedly providing gender-affirming care to minors in violation of S.B. 14, the state’s ban on such care for minors.

Paxton filed a lawsuit against Dr. May C. Lau, a medical provider at Chidren’s Hospital in Dallas, for allegedly prescribing hormone replacement therapy to at least 21 minors between October 2023 and last August. Lau “allegedly used false diagnoses and billing codes to mask these unlawful prescriptions,” the lawsuit states. Lau may lose her medical license if the lawsuit succeeds.

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Paxton’s lawsuit falsely refers to gender-affirming care as “dangerous and experimental medical procedures.” A press release from his office also claims that there’s “no scientific evidence supports [the] supposed benefits” of gender-affirming medication — this, too, is a lie.

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The medications used in such care have been used safely in children for decades for the purposes of gender transition and to treat other medical issues in cisgender children. In fact, Texas’ law stands in opposition to the best care practices for treating gender dysphoria recommended by every major American medical association. These associations agree that such care is safe, effective, and essential for the overall well-being of trans people.

Although the Texas Supreme Court, whose judges are elected officials, upheld the state’s ban in an 8-1 ruling last June, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opposed a similar ban passed in 2023 by the Tennessee legislature.

The DOJ’s lawsuit will likely be argued this December or in January 2025 in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The court will likely issue a ruling in June or early July 2025.

“The laws are inflicting profound harms on transgender adolescents and their families by denying medical treatments that the affected adolescents, their parents, their doctors, and medical experts have all concluded are appropriate and necessary to treat a serious medical condition,” the DOJ wrote in court filings.

Paxton has a long history of opposing gender-affirming care. In February 2022, he issued a non-binding opinion calling gender-affirming health care a form of child abuse. Children’s Hospital in Dallas stopped providing gender-affirming care to trans youth that year in response.

Soon after issuing his order, several employees with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) quit, and some state attorneys refused to enforce his opinion by investigating families that provide gender-affirming care to their trans children. The Texas Supreme Court ruled that neither Abbott nor Paxton had the authority to issue the order. Several families with trans children also filed a lawsuit against Abbott. The presiding district judge in the lawsuit issued a temporary restraining order against any such DFPS investigations.

Paxton also demanded out-of-state hospitals and PFLAG, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, turn over records related to the families of trans youth seeking gender-affirming care. Both groups successfully opposed Paxton’s efforts.

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