A lawsuit has been filed by the state of Texas against a pediatrician, marking the first legal action taken under the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The complaint, filed on Thursday in the District Court of Collin County, accuses Dr. May Lau, a pediatrician at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, of prescribing testosterone to at least 21 minors seeking gender transition.
The case was initiated by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who alleged that Lau endangered the health and safety of minors by prescribing medications intended to facilitate gender transition from female to male. In his complaint, Paxton described Lau as a “scofflaw,” claiming that her actions were in violation of the state’s recently implemented law prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors.
Governor Greg Abbott signed the law banning gender-affirming care in June 2023, mandating that any doctor who provides drugs or surgeries for gender transition to minors must have their medical license revoked. According to the complaint, many of Lau’s prescriptions were written just before the law took effect in September 2023, allowing her patients to fill them after the ban was enforced. However, Paxton argued that this preemptive action still constituted a violation of the law. Additionally, two testosterone prescriptions were allegedly issued by Lau after the ban had officially taken effect.
The lawsuit further claims that Lau falsified patient records to hide the fact that her patients were receiving care for gender transition, which, according to Paxton, violates Texas’s business code. In response to these allegations, the state is seeking monetary damages and a court order to prevent Lau from continuing to provide such care in the future.
As of now, neither Dr. Lau nor the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has responded to requests for comment on the matter.
The Texas Supreme Court upheld the ban on gender-affirming care for minors in June 2023, rejecting arguments presented by families of transgender children and medical professionals. Opponents of the law argued that it was discriminatory and infringed on parental rights to make healthcare decisions for their children.
Texas is not alone in implementing such policies. According to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank, 25 Republican-led states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, with many of these laws currently being challenged in court. The outcome of these legal challenges could be influenced by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear a case involving Tennessee’s ban on similar care. The decision in that case could have far-reaching implications for the future of such laws across the country.
(Input From Various Sources)
(Rehash/Ankur Deka/MSM)