Texas Attorney General Sues Doctor for Assisting Minors in Sex Reassignment Surgery – JURIST

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Thursday against a doctor for providing sex reassignment care to 21 underage patients, violating a Texas law that bans medical procedures related to sex reassignment.

In the lawsuit, Dr. May Lau accused of “deceptive trade practices,” including misleading pharmacies, insurers and/or patients by falsifying medical records, prescriptions and billing documents to represent that testosterone prescriptions were for something else [transitioning or affirming a child’s biological sex or gender identity.]”

The lawsuit claims Lau is a “radical gender activist” and points to her advocacy for gender-affirming care in several medical journals as well as her work with gender-affirming care clinics that closed with the passage of SB 14.

The lawsuit is the first instance in which the newly enacted law has been enforced, said Hubert Seldin, a fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ and HIV Project.

Texas Senate Bill 14, passed in June 2023, prohibits a doctor from performing gender reassignment treatments under penalty of civil penalties or loss of medical license. The bill was soon challenged and upheld by the Texas Supreme Court on the grounds that the interest in protecting the health and safety of minors was more important than the right of parents to make medical decisions for their children.

A statement from Paxton’s office accompanying the lawsuit called sex reassignment treatments “experimental” and claimed that “no scientific evidence” supports their effectiveness. On the other hand, several medical associations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, support the use of gender-affirming care for minors, citing scientific studies that show minors who receive this care have better mental health with lower rates of suicide and depression .

Half of the United States now has bans or restrictions on gender-affirming or transitional care, with six states making the provision of this care a crime.