DALLAS (AP) — 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.
Texas is among states that have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
The hospital's lawsuit included a copy of the letter from Paxton’s office, which among other requests asked the hospital to produce records identifying medication given to children who live in Texas; the number of Texas children who received treatment; and documents that identified the “standard protocol or guidance” used for treatment.
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.
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.
“When we merely began asking questions, they decided to leave the State of Texas and forfeit the opportunity to do business here," Paxton said in a news release Monday. He said Texas will “vigorously protect” children from gender-affirming treatment that he called “damaging.”
The Texas law prevents transgender minors from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers and transition surgeries, even though medical experts say such surgical procedures are rarely performed on children.
In Washington, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee has signed a law that aims to protects minors seeking gender-affirming care there, part of a wave of legislation in Democratic-led states intended to give refuge to those seeking gender-affirming treatment.
FILE - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton makes a statement at his office, May 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. 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, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Friday welcomed Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on his first visit to the country, with the two meeting in the capital of Brasilia and the South American leader pushing his counterpart to buy his country's beef.
Brazil had wished to seize on the bilateral meeting to push forward an agreement to open Japanese markets to Brazilian beef, a goal the Latin American country has pursued since 2005. In an appeal to the prime minister, Lula insisted he should eat at a steakhouse during his trip.
“I don’t know what you had for dinner last night,” Lula said during the press conference, looking at Kishida and the Japanese delegation, then turning his attention to Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, who is also Minister of Industry, Commerce, Development and Trade. “Please, take Prime Minister Fumio to eat steak at the best restaurant in Sao Paulo so that, the following week, he starts importing our beef.”
Under Lula, Brazil has boosted efforts to export beef to international markets. Since the beginning of 2023 when Lula took office, 50 countries have lifted restrictions, mostly in Asia. According to Brazilian officials, about 70% of the beef consumed in Japan is imported, while 80% of the imports come from the U.S. and Australia.
“Our meat is cheaper and of better quality than the meat you buy. I don’t even know the price, but I’m sure ours is cheaper, and of extreme quality,” Lula added.
Brazil exported more than 2 million pounds of beef in 2023, barely breaking the record set the prior year, according to official trade data. The nation is the world's largest beef exporter, shipping to over 90 countries. The sanitary conditions of the cattle industry are now “much better than in 2005, particularly regarding recognition of areas free from foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination,” Eduardo Paes Saboia, the secretary for Asia and Pacific at Brazil’s foreign affairs ministry, told reporters in Brasilia.
The cattle industry is also a major driver of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado, a vast tropical savanna region. Japan and Brazil agreed to Japanese support for restoration initiatives of the Cerrado’s degraded areas. Additional cooperation agreements pertained to cooperation in cybersecurity and investment promotion, among other areas.
“There is great potential in bilateral cooperation to address global challenges,” Kishida said at a press conference after their bilateral meeting.
He added that he expected to enhance Japanese and Brazilian cooperation in environmental protection measures, climate change and sustainable development, mentioning his country's recent $3 million contribution to the Brazilian government’s fund to protect the Amazon rainforest. He also noted that 150 Japanese executives had joined him on the trip.
Kishida's first words to Lula, according to the Brazilian president, were to express solidarity with the victims of the floods in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul that have killed 37 people as of Friday morning, with dozens more still missing.
Brazil is home to the world’s largest Japanese community outside Japan, with over 2.7 million Japanese citizens and their descendants. The first ships from the Asian country arrived to Brazil in 1908, and immigration peaked between World War I and II.
Prime Minister Kishida will travel to Asuncion, Paraguay in the afternoon to attend a business summit, meet the Japanese community and have dinner with President Santiago Peña. On Saturday morning, he is expected to fly back to Brazil to meet the Japanese community in Sao Paulo, deliver a speech at the University of Sao Paulo and attend a business meeting.
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gives a joint statement with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Nova)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands during a meeting at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Nova)
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives to Planalto presidential palace for a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Nova)
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pose for photos at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Nova)
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands for the media during a meeting at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Luis Nova)
