A new lawsuit by Seattle Children’s pits the hospital against the Texas Attorney General’s office, amid a national fight over privacy for children seeking gender-affirming care.
In the lawsuit, filed this month in Travis County, Texas, District Court, Seattle Children’s is aiming to protect patient information of Texans who left their home state, where it’s illegal for minors to access gender-affirming care, to seek treatment here, where it is legal.
It also invokes Washington’s new shield law, legislation state lawmakers approved earlier this year to protect hospitals from being forced to share information about transgender and gender diverse children who are seeking medical care. Many Democrat-led states have passed similar shield laws, fearing that people crossing state lines for abortions and gender-affirming care could be prosecuted as more Republican-led states continue to pass laws restricting access to these services.
Children’s filed the new lawsuit after the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton served the hospital with a civil investigative demand in late November, according to the complaint. The request sought information about patients from Texas who had received gender-affirming care services from Children’s, including details related to diagnoses, medications prescribed, laboratory testing and other treatment protocols.
I dont. The Catholics on the court will get their marching orders from the Vatican and Thomas will get his new boat.
They will just say that the kid is a resident of the state and as such the state has a compelling interest in knowing what is happening medically with the child even outside of state lines. Either that or they will argue that since bounty hunters aren’t state officials none of the rules really apply. Welcome to the new world where people can just stand outside hospitals and report every kid coming in just so they can shot gun it to bounty land