A Texas hospital that once promoted transgender procedures on kids will create the first-ever “detransition clinic” for those who were subjected to gender procedures, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday.
The detransition clinic will be created as part of a settlement negotiated between Texas Children’s Hospital, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and the Justice Department. Texas Children’s Hospital will additionally pay a $10 million fine and fire five doctors who “performed harmful medical interventions on Texans,” Paxton said.
“Today is a monumental day in the fight to stop the radical transgender movement. This historic settlement reflects an institutional and fundamental cultural shift away from radical ‘gender’ ideology,” said Paxton. “I applaud Texas Children’s Hospital for changing course and committing to being a part of the solution by agreeing to form a first-of-its-kind Detransition Clinic that will help provide free care to those who have been victimized by twisted, morally bankrupt transgender ideology.”
The detransition care will be paid for by Texas Children’s Hospital for the first five years and will seek to reverse previous transgender procedures performed on patients. Detransitioners like Chloe Cole, who was put on cross-sex hormones and had her breasts removed as a teen, have pushed for there to be more resources for those pushed into gender confusion as children.
Paxton said the $10 million monetary settlement was due to the hospital billing Texas Medicaid for illegal gender procedures. The hospital has denied those accusations.
“Under 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 ‘transition’ kids,” Paxton said.
The settlement will additionally require the hospital to no longer provide “gender-transition” services and take additional steps to ensure compliance with Texas law protecting kids from transgender procedures.
In a statement to The Daily Wire, the hospital insisted that it had always been in compliance with the law and accused Paxton and the Justice Department of an “unconscionable campaign of mistruths and mischaracterizations related to gender affirming care.”
“Today, we made the difficult decision to settle with the Texas Attorney General and the Department of Justice, closing a chapter that has been wrought with falsehoods and distractions,” the hospital said. “To be clear — we are settling to protect our resources from endless and costly litigation. This 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.”
Texas Children’s Hospital is still being sued by Dr. Eithan Haim, a whistleblower who released documents appearing to show its transgender medical program was still active and performing attempted transition procedures on children as young as 11.