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Texas Children’s Hospital fined for performing illegal ‘sex-rejecting’ procedures on minors #Catholic The historic settlement agreement between Texas Children’s Hospital, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the state of Texas has been fully executed, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said this week.Under the terms of the settlement agreement, first announced by Paxton’s office in May, Texas Children’s, the largest children’s hospital in the United States, said it would no longer provide “gender-transition” interventions, including puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, to minors, per Texas law.“This historic settlement is a resounding defeat for the radical gender ideology that has preyed on Texas children under the guise of ‘care,’” Paxton said in a press release Aug. 5.Per the executed agreement, Texas Children’s “will pay a total of million to resolve these claims,” with ,576,000 going to the state of Texas. It will also fund, for five years, a detransition clinic offering free restorative medical care to patients who previously underwent such procedures. The clinic must open by the end of October.“Texas Children’s has agreed to pay millions back to Texas,” Paxton said. “The detransition clinic, which is the first of its kind, must open within months. Activist doctors who harmed children have been fired.”The agreement also required the permanent termination and revocation of privileges for five physicians who performed these interventions.The hospital is permanently barred from rehiring or credentialing the doctors and must implement new compliance measures, including bylaw changes that will automatically revoke privileges for any physician who violates Texas law prohibiting such procedures on children.“This settlement sends an unmistakable message,” Paxton said. “If you put radical ideology over childrenʼs health, my office will go after you. We will continue to lead the way in stopping the far-left’s radical gender agenda.”The settlement agreement resolves a yearslong investigation of the hospital by the DOJ and the state of Texas that began after whistleblower allegations surfaced claiming the hospital had continued performing sex-change procedures on minors in secret even after state lawmakers made such procedures illegal.The Justice Department said in May that the Houston-based hospital had agreed to pay millions in civil penalties and damages for allegedly falsely billing Medicaid and other insurers for “pediatric sex-rejecting procedures.”The federal government had alleged that the hospital violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the False Claims Act, and federal fraud and conspiracy laws.Following the publication of a directive by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that transgender procedures on minors that could be considered “child abuse” under existing state law, Texas Children’s announced in 2022 that it would cease “sex-change” therapies and procedures, citing concerns that these practices were potentially illegal.In 2023 Texas passed a law that explicitly banned puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender-transition surgeries for minors under 18.Nevertheless, at least three doctors associated with Texas Children’s — Richard Roberts, David Paul, and Kristy Rialon — continued to perform “sex-rejecting” procedures on children throughout 2022 and 2023, according to whistleblower evidence published by Christopher Rufo, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute.Rufo claimed that Rialon had been performing surgeries on minors ranging in age from 15 to as young as 1.Calling the settlement “historic,” Paxton said in May that it “will ensure that the deranged child mutilators who hurt our kids are fired and held accountable.”According to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the DOJ “will use every weapon at its disposal to end the destructive and discredited practice of so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ for children.”The Department of Justice noted that Texas Children’s cooperated with the investigation and took proactive steps that contributed to the resolution. The claims resolved in the settlement remain allegations, with no determination of liability.“I am grateful that Texas Children’s wants to be part of the solution and no longer the problem,” said Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general for the Civil Division.

unitedyam August 7, 2026August 9, 2026

Texas Children’s will pay $10 million to resolve the claims, with $8,576,000 going to the state of Texas, as well as fund, for five years, a first-of-its kind detransition clinic.

Michigan ends restriction on Catholic counselors who treat kids with gender dysphoria #Catholic Catholic counselors in Michigan who offer Catholic-based “talk therapy” to children who struggle with gender dysphoria and gender identity will be allowed to continue their services, according to a federal court order issued on July 31.Government officials in Michigan have agreed they will not enforce the state ban on "conversion therapy” on the counselors who work for Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee, and Hillsdale Counties or any other counselors engaged in “talk therapy.”The Catholic Charities affiliate sued Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other state officials after the governor signed into law a ban on “conversion therapy.” This prohibited treatments that seek to “change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” This includes “efforts to change behavior or gender expression.”According to the law, counselors were allowed to offer “acceptance, support, or understanding” of a child who self-identifies with a gender inconsistent with his or her sex. The lawsuit filed by the Catholic Charities affiliate argued the law forced them to “affirm” that the child could identify with a gender that is inconsistent with his or her sex, which conflicts with Catholic teaching.The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity.” The Vatican’s 2019 document “Male and Female He Created Them” teaches that sexual identity is a reality “given” through one’s biological and physiological nature. Officials in Michigan consented to a court order that acknowledges that the law — as enforced against the Catholic Charities affiliate — violates the counselors’ First Amendment right to freedom of speech.According to the court order, the state cannot enforce this law against the Catholic counselors or any other counselors in the state if the treatment “consists exclusively of talking.” The order is permanent and took effect immediately, upon the signature of Judge Jane M. Beckering.The Catholic Charities affiliate was represented by lawyers at the Becket Fund. Luke Goodrich, senior counsel at Becket and lead attorney for the counselors, said in a statement that the order is “a major victory for children, counselors, and common sense.”“Kids who are hurting deserve compassion, not a one-way ticket to harmful drugs, hormones, and surgery,” he said. “Now counselors can offer compassionate counseling without fearing that state bureaucrats will come knocking.”This agreement comes four months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that a similar ban on “conversion therapy” in Colorado violated the First Amendment rights of counselors, warning the state-level bans “suppress speech based on viewpoint.”Kimberly Bush, a spokesperson for Michigan’s attorney general’s office, said in a statement to EWTN News that Michigan entered into the agreement because of the Supreme Court ruling, but added: “We remain deeply disappointed in this decision and have grave concerns for the implications this could bring for the safety and welfare of Michigan’s children.”A spokesperson for Whitmer also expressed disappointment in the agreement in a statement to EWTN News."Governor Whitmer believes that every young person deserves the right to grow up safe, supported, and free to be themselves,” the spokesperson said.“This order is disappointing and represents a step back for the LGBTQ+ community,” the spokesperson added. “Michigan will never support any practice that harms or shames LGBTQ+ youth. The governor will continue to fight to ensure that LGBTQ+ individuals are protected from attacks and that their voices are heard.”In June, Oregonʼs Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists withdrew disciplinary action against Catholic counselors who engaged in similar talk therapy, citing the Supreme Court decision as its reason.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and wife Usha welcome fourth child #Catholic U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, announced the birth of their fourth child, a baby boy named Alec Neel Vance, on Sunday, July 19.In a statement shared on social media, the couple wrote: “We are excited to announce that our baby boy, Alec Neel Vance, was born this morning. Usha and the baby are happy and healthy, and our kids are overjoyed to meet their little brother.”The Vances are already parents to Ewan (9), Vivek (6), and Mirabel (4). Vance was received into the Catholic Church in 2019 and recently released a book about his faith journey, titled “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.”Usha Vance, who is Hindu and has said she has no plans to convert, has shared that the family attends Mass together and sends their children to Catholic schools. She said in a June 2025 interview with Megan McCain that after her husband converted, “we had to have a lot of real conversations about how” to raise their children.“When you convert to Catholicism it comes with several important obligations, like to raise your child in the faith and all that,” she said.The couple allows their children to discern whether to be baptized; their son Ewan has since chosen to become Catholic.Vice President Vance has long spoken of children as a profound blessing and vocation.In a March interview with podcaster Benny Johnson, Vance reflected: “If I have one regret, it’s that I wish we had started earlier and had more, because it’s the most rewarding thing; it’s the coolest thing.”He said his three children, who have “their own little personalities” are “so quirky and fun.”To young men thinking of becoming fathers, but waiting until “everything in your life is perfect,” Vance had this to say: “I think that’s a ridiculous attitude … You’re never ready. There’s no point at which you can sort of get all your little ducks in a row and get … your financial situation in a row. Whenever you have a baby, whatever stage of life, it will be shocking, it will be crazy, it will be the most difficult and the most rewarding thing that you’ve ever done.”“You have kids, you figure it out,” he continued. “They’re the thing that perfects life. Fatherhood is the absolute best motivator.”His words on fatherhood align with his public advocacy for a renewed culture of life. In his first public address as vice president at the National March for Life in January 2025, he declared: “I want more babies in the United States of America. I want more happy children in our country and I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world and eager to raise them.”The Vance’s happy news arrives against the backdrop of America’s ongoing demographic challenges.According to the latest CDC provisional data, U.S. births fell 1% in 2025 to 3.6 million, with the general fertility rate dropping to a record low of 53.1 births per 1,000 women ages 15–44. The total fertility rate remains well below the replacement level of 2.1, continuing a decline since 2007.Catholic leaders have repeatedly called attention to this trend as a spiritual and cultural crisis.Pope Leo in May decried “the time of drastic sterility” in which we are living, emphasizing that discouraging demographic data “are not merely statistics but speak of fatherhood, motherhood, and children. And children are the future!”The Church’s teaching affirms openness to life, the gift of children and the vocation of marriage and family as a “domestic church.”U.S. President Donald Trump offered warm congratulations to the couple in a post on Truth Social: “Congratulations! A perfect baby boy for the wonderful Vance family,” accompanied by a photo of the newborn with two of his siblings.Usha and JD Vance’s baby is the first in modern U.S. history (and the first in over 150 years) for a sitting American vice president’s family. The last time a baby was born to a U.S. vice president was in 1870, when Vice President Schuyler Colfax (under President Ulysses S. Grant) and his wife Ellen welcomed a son, Schuyler Colfax III.