Seattle Children's sues Texas AG for asking for records of Texans who received gender-affirming care
SEATTLE - Seattle Children’s Hospital has taken the Texas Attorney General to court over subpoenas demanding medical information tied to patients receiving gender-affirming care.
A legal filing in Texas’ Travis County District Court reveals two letters sent from the Texas AG's Office to Seattle Children’s Hospital in November demanding patient records tied to Texas residents who received transition-related care. It called for Seattle Children’s to release both records and sworn written statements to the Consumer Protection Division of the Texas AG’s office no later than Dec. 7.
"The Division believes that you are in possession, custody, or control of documentary material relevant to the subject matter of an investigation of actual or possible violations of DTPA sections 17.46(a) and 17.46(b) for issues related to misrepresentations regarding Gender Transitioning and Reassignment Treatments and Procedures and Texas law," the demand read.
The cross-state dispute boils down to questions over whether Texas has any jurisdiction, or reason, to demand the documents.
In documents obtained by FOX 13, attorneys for Seattle Children’s argue that handing over the documents requested would violate both federal and state laws, citing HIPAA and Washington’s "Shield Law."
"The whole point of the Shield Law was to make sure Washington is protected from Texas, or any other state, from overreach," said State Sen. Drew Hansen, who introduced the law.
According to Hansen, when a Supreme Court leak led to headlines that Supreme Court Justices were preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade, work began behind the scenes to ensure medical treatment ranging from abortion services to gender-affirming care would be shielded from states with opposing viewpoints.
"Those states can make their own choices," said Hansen. "They’re free to do that. We’re free to protect people based on the choices we make."
While the Texas AG's office has yet to comment on the back-and-forth, the efforts to obtain documents from Washington state is in line with a series of moves by Republicans in Texas. In recent years, Texas Republicans have made efforts to restrict everything from sports to medical care for trans youth.
The latest effort seeks to use Texas’ new Deceptive Trade Practices Act to obtain documents from Seattle Children’s. In the hospital’s court filing, lawyers argue that they’ve never provided gender-affirming care in the state of Texas – or provided telemedicine to anyone outside their coverage area.
"If any Texas residents receive gender-affirming care from Seattle Children’s, they must travel to Washington to receive that care. A Texas resident’s unilateral choice to obtain healthcare in Washington is insufficient to confer special jurisdiction on Seattle Children’s," an attorney wrote.