Texas Children’s Hospital, the country’s largest pediatric hospital, is no longer providing kids with gender affirming medicine.
The hospital, located in Houston, says it's pausing gender hormone therapies for kids in order to protect doctors and families from legal issues. This comes after Governor Greg Abbott ordered gender hormone treatments to be investigated as child abuse. Psychotherapist Ty Lerman says that label is false.
"It directly conflicts with every single professional organization who has affirmed transgender care as a medical necessity," Lerman says.
The hospital says its mission is still to create a healthier future for kids, but it doesn't want to break any laws.
“The mission of Texas Children’s Hospital is to create a healthier future for all children, including transgender children, within the bounds of the law ... This step was taken to safeguard our health care professionals and impacted families from potential criminal legal ramifications,” the hospital wrote in a statement released Friday.
Last month, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton released a nonbinding legal opinion that labeled certain gender-confirming treatments as “child abuse.” He praised the hospital's decision on social media.
Abbott's directive and Paxton’s opinion go against the nation’s largest medical groups, including the American Medical Association.
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