番茄社区

The physicians who staffed Dell Children's Medical Center's adolescent medicine clinic in Austin, Texas are departing amid an investigation by the state's attorney general, according to clinic officials.

and claimed the doctors were fired for offering gender-affirming care. The hospital, however, said the adolescent medicine clinic remains open but will be staffed by other physicians in its medical group, according to reports.

Ascension/Dell Children's did not return a request for comment from 番茄社区, but a statement from the hospital read, "While the physicians who previously staffed the clinic will be departing, the clinic remains open and supported by other physicians within Dell Children's Medical Group. We continue to be advocates for the best possible care and treatment for children in Central Texas."

Dell's Children's did not respond to KXAN's request to elaborate on why the physicians left so abruptly.

Earlier this month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of Dell Children's for "potentially illegal activity" related to gen­der tran­si­tion­ing procedures at the clinic. Gender-affirming care for minors is not illegal in Texas, though Gov. Greg Abbott (R) instructed the Department of Family Protective Services to investigate all instances of "sex-change" procedures as potential child abuse.

"Attorney General Paxton has issued a Request to Examine ("RTE") to Dell Children's Medical Center, which demands answers about the alleged activities. The RTE seeks to determine whether any state laws have been violated or any misrepresentations have been made to parents and patients."

According to the RTE, Dell Christian's has a few weeks to provide documentation on gender-affirming treatments for minors at the hospital.

Paxton announced the investigation 2 weeks after the far-right group Project Veritas posted a video that included footage of a licensed social worker at Dell Children's saying that "we do have patients who are starting as young as 8, 9." The clip was posted without context in a compilation of other youth gender clinics sharing information about gender-affirming care. Project Veritas has been known for using tactics including surreptitious recording.

In a , Dell Children's stated that the clinic "prohibits surgery and prescribing hormone therapy for the treatment of gender dysphoria for children."

While it doesn't provide those treatments for minors, the clinic does "provide a safe and welcoming place for children to receive other forms of primary care and treatment, including treatment of illness and injuries, well-baby visits, and school physicals," the statement continued.

the story of a Texas teen who had been receiving hormone replacement therapy at Dell Children's for years as part of her post-cancer treatment plan. The therapy is vital for boosting estrogen to delay menopause. Her parents received a call from the clinic that their daughter's doctor was no longer with the clinic and they would be referred to a different clinic.

"That was when it kind of came out that it wasn't just that one doctor who was leaving the clinic, it was that all of the doctors affiliated with the Adolescent Medicine Clinic were leaving," the father told KXAN. "And so obviously, that was concerning, to say the least."

Another Texas teen that his social worker informed him that the provider who prescribed his hormones was leaving the clinic and that he'd need to go elsewhere for care. This call came the same day Paxton announced his investigation. The teen told the station that he is worried about finding a new provider before his testosterone prescription runs out.

"If we're all flooding in and [the wait] is already 3 to 6 months, where are we going to get our care?" he told KUT.

that would ban gender-affirming healthcare for minors has already passed the Texas Senate and is likely to pass the House once it comes to a vote. If signed into law, the bill would take effect on September 1, 2023. It also would require minors already receiving puberty blockers or hormone therapy to be weaned off, which some call .

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