ken paxton made a children's hospital open a 'detransition clinic,' then posted a link asking you to donate to it. the audacity has a billing code.

via the Texas attorney general's office, the Texas Tribune, Houston Public Media and Dallas Voice

At the bottom of Ken Paxton's Tuesday press release, after the victory lap, there is a line that reads: "To donate to the Detransition Clinic's efforts, click here." The link goes to Texas Children's Hospital's general donation form, the one tagged in its own web address as the hospital's navigation-bar donate button. So the attorney general is fundraising, with the hospital's form, for a clinic he made the hospital pay for. Bold.

The news itself, per Paxton's office: Texas Children's in Houston has opened what he calls "the nation's first-ever Detransition Clinic." It offers "detransition-related medical care to patients through age 21," plus obstetric and gynecologic care for patients older than 21, and the hospital must fund its services for the first five years so patients pay nothing. "I will continue to ensure that this clinic provides the care and support that victims of the radical left's gender ideology deserve," Paxton said.

what the settlement made them do

The clinic is one term of a settlement Paxton announced on May 15. Texas Children's agreed to pay the state $10 million over claims it billed Texas Medicaid for gender-transition care, and to revoke the privileges of five physicians, the Texas Tribune and the TNND wire reported. Paxton's release adds that the hospital had to change its bylaws so that providing such care triggers automatic loss of privileges. A 10-page term sheet the Tribune obtained, published by Houston Public Media, also required a clinic website, a donate page, and a "Potential GAC Patient List."

The hospital did not settle because it agreed. Texas Children's said it made the "difficult decision" to close a legal chapter "wrought with falsehoods and distractions," per the Tribune, after producing more than 5 million documents to the state and the U.S. Department of Justice.

who this clinic is for

Texas has barred puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans minors since Senate Bill 14 in 2023, the Tribune notes. And regret after hormones or surgery is rare, the Tribune's reporting adds; common reasons people stop transitioning include lack of family support, money and social pressure. A clinic fixes none of those.

Dallas Voice put it bluntly: Paxton is bragging. He is also on the ballot next week, which we have been covering for a while. The ribbon-cutting timing is surely a coincidence, in the way that a donate button is a medical device.