Texas Files First-Ever Lawsuit Against a Doctor for Providing Gender-Affirming Care to Trans Youth

Texas has filed the first ever lawsuit against a doctor for providing gender-affirming services to over 20 minors, according to a report.

In June 2023, Texas enacted a bill that prohibits medical professionals from giving hormone therapy, puberty blockers, or providing any surgical interventions to transgender minors.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who filed the suit, claims pediatrician Dr. May C. Lau unlawfully administered hormones to 21 patients under 18.

In the lawsuit, Lau, an adolescent medicine specialist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, is accused of prescribing testosterone to the minors, as reported by NBC News.

"Growing scientific evidence strongly suggests that 'gender transition' interventions prescribed to or performed on children in an attempt to anatomically or hormonally alter their biological sex characteristics have damaging, long-term consequences," Paxton's office said in a press release obtained by the Advocate. "Additionally, the prohibited treatments are experimental, and no scientific evidence supports their supposed benefits."

Lau allegedly violated Senate Bill 14 which bans certain medical treatments for transgender youth, and provided gender transition services from October 2023 to August 2024. The suit also alleges that she engaged in deceptive practices by using incorrect medical billing codes to obscure the nature of the treatments

If found guilty of violating the law, Lau could face a $1 million fine and revocation of her medical license.