Tuesday, April 23, 2024

We Won!

Texas wants your medical information… The hospital said no.
 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is dropping a request for a Seattle hospital to hand over records regarding gender-affirming treatment potentially given to children from Texas as part of a lawsuit settlement announced Monday.

Seattle Children’s Hospital filed the lawsuit against Paxton’s office in December in response to the Republican appearing to go beyond state borders to investigate transgender health care. Paxton, a staunch conservative who has helped drive GOP efforts that target the rights of trans people, sent similar letters to Texas hospitals last year.

The Seattle hospital said in a statement that it had “successfully fought” the “overreaching demands to obtain confidential patient information.” A judge in Austin dismissed the lawsuit Friday, saying the parties had settled their dispute.
The Attorney General said that they won but,
As part of the settlement, according to court records, the parties agreed that Seattle Children’s Hospital would withdraw its registration to transact business in Texas. But a hospital spokesperson said in a statement that they don’t operate health care facilities or provide gender-affirming care in Texas.
What I found interesting was,
In court records, the hospital had previously stated that it had a “limited number” of people who work remotely and live in Texas but that none were involved in gender-affirming care. It also said it did not advertise its services in Texas.
I found “...people who work remotely…” very interesting. Does that mean when someone works remotely in a state where the business is illegal in the state where they live but where the business is located is legal that the employed is breaking the law? Suppose the person who is an accountant for a marijuana store in Connecticut and lives in Texas, can the state of Texas arrest the accountant for selling marijuana? According to the Attorney General Ken Paxton the answer would be yes.

This whole flap was started by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton back in December…
 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked a Seattle hospital to hand over records regarding gender-affirming treatment potentially given to children from Texas, according to court filings that appear to show the Republican going beyond state borders to investigate transgender health care.

Seattle Children’s Hospital filed a lawsuit in Austin, Texas, this month asking a court to invalidate or narrow the requests from Paxton, a staunch conservative who has helped drive Republican efforts that target the rights of trans people. His office sent similar letters earlier this year to Texas hospitals.

[…]

The hospital argued Paxton’s office was overstepping its jurisdiction and had no authority to request the records.
By the way, Connecticut has a law banning any reproductive health being sent out of state without the patient’s consent. PA 22-19 AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROVISION OF PROTECTIONS FOR PERSONS RECEIVING AND PROVIDING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN THE STATE AND ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN THE STATE
I have been told that trans healthcare involves reproductive healthcare.
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