Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing a North Texas doctor for allegedly providing gender-affirming care to nearly two dozen patients after the state’s ban took effect last September.
In the suit announced Wednesday, Paxton claims that Dr. May Lau, Children’s Medical Center Dallas’ adolescent and young adult clinic medical director and a professor at UT Southwestern, violated Senate Bill 14 by prescribing testosterone to 21 patients after the law took effect Sept. 1, 2023.
The 35-page suit accuses Lau of writing prescriptions either after the law took effect or writing them with orders to refill prescriptions after the law took effect. It refers to Lau as a "scofflaw" and "radical gender activist," and maintains that each violation is a separate ground for the revocation of her license.
KERA has reached out to Children's Medical Center and UT Southwestern for comment.
Paxton said the state will continue to prosecute doctors who continue to provide “harmful ‘gender transition’ drugs and treatment.”
“Texas passed a law to protect children from these dangerous unscientific medical interventions that have irreversible and damaging effects,” Paxton wrote in a statement.
SB 14 outlaws gender-affirming health care for children, which can include puberty blockers; therapy using hormones such as estrogen and testosterone; and surgeries.
The law also directs the Texas Medical Board to revoke the medical licenses of those who violate it.
Texas families of trans children and various organizations filed a lawsuit to prevent SB 14 from going into effect. A Travis County judge granted a temporary injunction, but the state’s swift appeal to the state Supreme Court overturned the ruling. The court in June upheld the law.
This story will be updated.
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