Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is dropping a request for a Seattle hospital to hand over records regarding gender-affirming treatment potentially given to children from Texas as part of a lawsuit settlement announced Monday.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is dropping a request for a Seattle hospital to hand over records regarding gender-affirming treatment potentially given to children from Texas as part of a lawsuit settlement announced Monday.

Seattle Children’s Hospital filed the lawsuit against Paxton’s office in December in response to the Republican appearing to go beyond state borders to investigate transgender health care. Paxton, a staunch conservative who has helped drive GOP efforts that target the rights of trans people, sent similar letters to Texas hospitals last year.

The Seattle hospital said in a statement that it had “successfully fought” the “overreaching demands to obtain confidential patient information.” A judge in Austin dismissed the lawsuit Friday, saying the parties had settled their dispute.

Texas is among states that have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.

      • Chocrates@lemmy.world
        272·
        7 months ago

        Paxton is in a statewide office though, Gerrymandering is real but we have (had, I just moved out of our shithole state) no excuse for Paxton or Abbott. Other than conservatives have a thorough hold on Texas politics.

        • sleepdrifter@startrek.websiteEnglish
          16·
          7 months ago

          If I’m not mistaken, I’ve heard stories about it being prohibitively difficult to vote (long lines, inadequate staffing & # of locations, banning vote-by-car, a COVID response) in urban areas. Can’t imagine a lot of those barriers exist in more rural areas.

          • Chocrates@lemmy.world
            5·
            7 months ago

            It was the worst in Houston I think. Austin (I lived in the area for he entire time I was there) was never too bad, but the city was so liberal it was hard to get a county clerk that wanted to be a dick.

            • scoobford@lemmy.zip
              2·
              7 months ago

              Yeah, I’ve always voted in Arlington. They make you go to a specific polling place (or at least they told me they do, I didn’t show up at the “wrong” one to check), but otherwise they’re perfectly nice, provided you have ID and are registered. Line usually takes at most 30m, usually 0-15.