The Houston-based center will also sack five doctors who provided gender-affirming treatments to youth, the Texas Attorney General has said

Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) will become the first American medical institution to open a clinic for adolescents seeking to reverse gender-related medical treatments, the US Department of Justice said.

The move comes as part of a settlement of a years-long probe by the DOJ and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton into America's largest children's hospital over its alleged false billings to secure insurance coverage for pediatric gender-affirming treatments.

The Justice Department said in a statement on Friday that Texas Children's agreed not to offer sex change services, inducing administration of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, to minors anymore.

The Houston-based center will also pay over $10 million in damages and "dedicate millions to the provision of medical care to children harmed by the provision of such procedures," the statement read.

Paxton announced in a separate statement that the TCH will also dismiss five doctors, who according to him, "harmed patients by performing dangerous medical interventions for the purpose of 'transitioning' them." 

Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche welcomed the settlement, which marks the first resolution in the DOJ's ongoing national investigation into transition care, saying that it "protects vulnerable children, holds providers accountable, and ensures those harmed receive the care they need." 

"The Justice Department will use every weapon at its disposal to end the destructive and discredited practice of so-called 'gender-affirming care' for children," Blanche insisted.

The hospital has denied any wrongdoing, saying in a statement that it decided to settle in order "to protect our resources from endless and costly litigation" and return to focusing on patient care.

"We stand proud knowing we will always put our purpose over politics and that we have and will continue to follow the law," it said.

Senior counsel at Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ advocacy group, Karen Loewy told Reuters that "it's deeply appalling to see [the TCH] capitulate to the relentless pressure campaigns of both AG Paxton and the Trump Administration." 

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Russia, which has taken steps to promote traditional values, banned legal and medical "gender transitions" except in serious medical cases in 2023. Last year, Moscow also outlawed the adoption of children by those living in countries that permit gender-reassignment procedures. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the West is engaged in what he called "gender terrorism."