DALLAS — A Dallas County judge has granted a nearly one-year injunction against Children’s Medical Center Dallas that will allow doctors there to continue intake of transgender youth seeking certain medical treatments.
Judge Melissa Bellan signed a temporary injunction Monday that lasts until next April, replacing a two-week temporary restraining order granted May 12. Requested by Dr. Ximena Lopez, both the injunction and the restraining order halted the hospital’s recent decision to stop providing certain medical treatments, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, to new transgender patients while a court battle continues over whether to reverse the policy altogether.
It’s the latest legal win for Lopez, who led the Genecis program for transgender youth that Children’s ran jointly with UT Southwestern until last November. She started her court battles with the hospitals in March with the goal of restarting care for new patients.
The injunction was agreed upon by both Lopez and Children’s and will stay in place until a trial currently set for April 18, 2023. At that time, a judge will decide whether the injunction should be made permanent.
About 60 people have called to schedule new appointments in the 11 days since the restraining order was initiated, Lopez has said.
“Justice has been done for these patients and families. Life-saving care was taken away from them for no legitimate reason and with no reasonable alternative,” Lopez said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News. “It is unfair for patients and providers to have to go through litigation to fight for their right to receive and provide medical care, respectively.”
Children’s declined to comment on the injunction. UT Southwestern, which is not subject to the injunction, has not responded to a request for comment.
Lopez’s attorney, Charla Aldous, applauded the mutually-agreed-upon order.
“Even in litigation, there are times the parties can get together and do what’s right. And I’m thankful Children’s agreed to this extension, for the sake of families and children. It’s the right thing to do,” she said.
Attorney general Ken Paxton has asked the court to allow him to intervene on behalf of the state in Lopez’s legal battles with Children’s Medical Center Dallas. The judge has not responded to his request for intervention.
In November, the two hospitals removed all Genecis branding from the internet and began to refer new adolescent patients seeking puberty suppressants and hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria to outside providers.
Transgender patients previously enrolled in Genecis can still access these treatments, UT Southwestern said, as can youth seeking hormones for other conditions, like precocious puberty. The hospitals continue to provide mental health care to new child and adolescent patients experiencing gender dysphoria.
All major physicians associations, including the Texas and American Medical Associations, support age appropriate and individualized medical treatments for youth experiencing gender dysphoria. These treatments may include puberty blockers or hormone therapy. Surgery is not recommended for patients under the age of consent, which is 18 in Texas.
Dysphoria is the feeling of discomfort or distress that can occur in people who identify as a gender that is different from the gender or sex assigned at birth, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The decision to stop providing medical treatments for new adolescent transgender patients garnered significant pushback from staff members at both Children’s and UT Southwestern.
In March, about 850 doctors, medical students and other employees of the institutions signed a petition opposing the decision, and dozens held a protest on UT Southwestern’s Campus on the International Transgender Day of Visibility.
During that same month, Lopez took UT Southwestern to court with a petition to depose the hospital’s top officials to learn who directed the changes to the Genecis program. The Dallas appeals court put that petition on hold last month.
Medical care for transgender youth became a major target for Texas Republicans during this year’s competitive GOP primary season, although the issue had been gaining momentum over the past few years.
Paxton, who is battling to keep his job in a GOP runoff election Tuesday, issued a nonbinding opinion in February declaring certain gender-affirming care for minors as child abuse. Gov. Greg Abbott promptly directed Child Protective Services to investigate any reports of transgender adolescents receiving this care.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled last week that Abbott and Paxton had no authority to order these investigations, but CPS indicated Thursday that they would resume.
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