A Houston, Texas hospital has been ordered to open the nation’s first “detransition clinic” as part of a settlement with the state over providing transgender medical treatments to minors. The agreement marks a significant development in the ongoing legal and political battle surrounding gender-affirming care in the state.
Texas Children’s Hospital is also required to pay the state $10 million. Additionally, five physicians associated with the facility have had their medical licenses revoked as part of the settlement, which follows an extensive investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office.
“Today is a monumental day in the fight to stop the radical transgender movement,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “I applaud Texas Children’s Hospital for changing course and committing to being a part of the solution by agreeing to form a first-of-its-kind Detransition Clinic that will help provide free care to those who have been victimized by twisted, morally bankrupt transgender ideology.”
Under the terms of the settlement, the new clinic is mandated to offer free medical care for the next five years to patients who were previously subjected to gender-transition procedures. This development follows a 2023 directive from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, which banned transgender children from receiving hormone therapies.
In a statement regarding the resolution, the hospital described the settlement as a “difficult decision.” The institution added, “To be clear — we are settling to protect our resources from endless and costly litigation… We stand proud knowing we will always put our purpose over politics and that we have and will continue to follow the law.”
The move has drawn sharp criticism from advocates of transgender rights. Dallas state representative and Texas LGBTQ chair Jessica Gonzalez labeled the settlement “shameful,” arguing that it furthers “an agenda to eradicate transgender people from the eyes of society.”
“Using a settlement to compel a hospital to build an ideologically framed clinic opens the door to more state interference in medical practice, more dangerous stigmatization that truly harms young Texans, and, sadly, more lives lost in our nation’s suicide epidemic,” Gonzalez stated. She further expressed concern that the resources allocated to the “detransition clinic” would divert necessary funding from pediatric cancer care.