Judge decides Texas AG cannot intervene in suit with Dallas hospital over transgender care

AUSTIN — The state of Texas cannot intervene in a lawsuit between Children’s Medical Center Dallas and one of its doctors over gender-affirming care for trans patients, a Dallas judge decided Friday.

After a contentious hearing that lasted more than two hours, Dallas County Judge Melissa Bellan said Attorney General Ken Paxton had not convinced her that the state had an interest in this case. Paxton’s office is expected to fight her decision at the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas.

Bellan’s decision marks another win for Dr. Ximena Lopez, who sued Children’s to reverse its recent decision to stop providing certain treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy to new transgender patients.

Last month, Children’s agreed to allow Lopez to resume this care through April 2023 while the case is being litigated. Bellan’s decision will allow her to continue seeing patients under this agreement, according to her lawyers, who accused Paxton of targeting trans care for “purely political reasons.”

“We are pleased that Judge Bellan saw through these shenanigans and struck the intervention. It is mind boggling that Paxton continues to fight against the best interest of children,” Charla Aldous, one of Lope’s lawyers, said in a statement.

In Friday’s hearing, Paxton deputies said the state opposed the agreement between Children’s and Lopez on the grounds that his office believes these treatments can constitute child abuse.

“That decision goes against child welfare laws as we interpret them,” Assistant Attorney General Johnathan Stone told Bellan. “We’re defending the state’s ability to enforce the law.”