Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Texas AG Targets Hospitals Providing Gender-Transition Care
Houston Chronicle: Ken Paxton Launches Investigation Into Trans Care At TCH
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday that he will investigate Texas Children’s Hospital to find out whether they are “unlawfully” providing gender transition care. The announcement comes two weeks after Paxton said he would investigate Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin for the same reason. Doctors who treated transgender adolescents at Dell Children’s left the hospital the following week, and patients and their families began hearing that their appointments were canceled, according to media reports. (Gill, 5/19)
The Texas Tribune: Doctors Depart Hospital After Texas AG Investigates Gender-Affirming Care
Patients who were receiving gender-affirming care at Dell Children’s are scrambling to find new providers, with many looking outside Texas. But gender-affirming care was only a small part of what this clinic provided, patients say. The doctors were renowned for their treatment of eating disorders and mental health issues, which are skyrocketing among adolescents. They also treated a wide range of menstrual disorders and helped families navigate adolescence for young people with developmental disabilities. (Klibanoff, 5/22)
On trans health care in Florida, Missouri, and Illinois —
WMFE: Florida Fund Will Help Transgender People Pay To Get Gender-Affirming Care Out Of State
LGBTQ advocates in Florida have started a fund that will help transgender people get gender-affirming care in other states. The Central Florida Emergency Trans Care Fund was launched by the LGBT+ Center in Orlando and the Contigo Fund. Under new laws, minors can’t get gender-affirming care in Florida, and adult patients can’t use Medicaid to pay for it. Contigo Fund director Joél Junior Morales said the goal is to help transgender people get care in other states. (Prieur, 5/22)
Missouri Independent: Transgender Missourians Say This Legislative Session Made Them 'Refugees' In Their Own State
Linda, Pat and their 15-year-old son Alex describe themselves as refugees of Missouri. Alex, which is a pseudonym to protect his privacy, is transgender. He’s lived his entire life in Missouri, and though his family imagined him leaving state for college, they truly believed Missouri would always be home. (Hanshaw, 5/21)
The Washington Post: Ill. Lawmaker: All-Gender Bathrooms Will ‘Cause Violence From Dads Like Me’
A bill that would allow Illinois businesses to build bathrooms that are open to all genders moved closer to passing last week. Still, a comment by a Republican state senator during debates Thursday is being condemned by politicians and activist groups. On the Senate floor that day, state Sen. Neil Anderson claimed that mixed-gender, multiple-occupancy restrooms would inspire physical altercations, saying that he himself could be driven to violence if “a guy” walked into the same bathroom as his 10-year-old daughter. (Melnick, 5/22)
Also —
AP: Many Transgender Health Bills Came From A Handful Of Far-Right Interest Groups, AP Finds
At least 17 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, though judges have temporarily blocked their enforcement in some, including Arkansas. An Associated Press analysis found that often those bills sprang not from grassroots or constituent demand, but from the pens of a handful of conservative interest groups. Many of the proposals, as introduced or passed, are identical or very similar to some model legislation, the AP found. Those ready-made bills have been used in statehouses for decades, often with criticisms of carpetbagging by out-of-state interests. In the case of restrictions on gender-affirming care for youths, they allow a handful of far-right groups to spread a false narrative based on distorted science, critics say. (McMillan, Harjai and Kruesi, 5/20)
AP: Meet The Influential New Player On Transgender Health Bills
A nonprofit that describes itself as a collection of doctors and others uniting to “protect healthcare from a radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideology” has become a significant presence in statehouses. Do No Harm got its start in early 2022 by focusing its criticisms of diversity initiatives in medicine before branching out to transgender health. And despite a nonprofit tax status that limited its involvement in legislation, it created an initiative to restrict gender-affirming care for youths, offered a model bill that an AP analysis found has been used in at least three states, and has sent people to testify in statehouses. (McMillan and Kruesi, 5/20)
