美国国家公共电台 NPR--Gender-affirming care may continue at Texas clinic while lawsuit heads to trial

Gender¹-affirming care may continue at Texas clinic while lawsuit² heads to trial

Transcript³

A court ruling says trans youth in Texas may seek gender affirming care at a Dallas clinic, while a lawsuit makes its way to trial. But some families are crossing state lines to get treatment.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Trans youth in Texas can continue to seek gender-affirming care at a major clinic in Dallas, at least for now. A court ruling yesterday allows the clinic to care for current patients and take new ones while a lawsuit makes its way to trial. Statewide gender-affirming treatment was called into question after Texas leadership branded it child abuse. From member station KUT in Austin, Andrew Weber reports on one family that's crossed state lines to get their son treatment.

ANDREW WEBER, BYLINE⁴: Kari calls herself a mama bear. It's a term moms of trans kids have adopted because they have to fight to protect their children. We're withholding⁵ Kari's last name because the care she provides for her teenage son has been classified as child abuse, and she fears she'll be investigated. When her son came out as trans at 14, she looked into treatment.

KARI: You know, my son was like, this is what I want.

WEBER: She got him testosterone shots. Next, he wanted chest masculinization surgery, telling her...

KARI: I know exactly where I want my nipples to be. I just - I know everything. Like, I just need somebody to do the surgery. And the surgeon was like, all right, we'll do it.

WEBER: Kari made an appointment last August. Days later, the state legislature took up a bill to ban gender-affirming care. The doctor canceled. In February, she rescheduled. But at the last minute, that doctor said...

KARI: The hospital is refusing to allow the surgery to proceed because your son is transgender and youth. He's a trans youth.

WEBER: They were devastated⁶. Again, bad timing⁷, Kari says. Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken⁸ Paxton had just directed Child Protective Services, or CPS, to investigate families seeking gender-affirming care for minors⁹ and doctors for providing it. It's left Texas families scrambling¹⁰.

Last month, Kari was referred to a New Orleans clinic. The trip cost more than the surgery, but Kari says it was worth it.

KARI: He's so much more himself and who he has always been because of this, because this surgeon stepped in and helped us.

WEBER: Her son continues to get testosterone shots in Texas and that means her family is still at risk.

Earlier this month, the Texas Supreme¹¹ Court said CPS investigations¹³ could proceed. Randa Mulanax resigned from CPS because of all of this. She says it's a slippery slope. Lots of medical treatments for kids have complicated side effects, but they're still necessary.

RANDA MULANAX: Because chemotherapy can cause irreparable damage to children and their reproductive organs, depending on what kind of cancer they have.

WEBER: She says families and doctors usually make those decisions. Mulanax calls the state intervention¹⁴ political.

MULANAX: It's a dangerous territory, I think, for the government to be trampling¹⁵ on.

WEBER: Gender-affirming health care is approved by major medical associations, and doctors and families say it's lifesaving, which is why the GENECIS Clinic in Dallas is currently in litigation. The clinic's lead doctor, Ximena Lopez, says she was forced to shut down because the governor pressured her bosses. A court order temporarily allowed GENECIS to reopen earlier this month. Yesterday, a judge extended it. Attorney Charla Aldous represents Lopez and says scores of new patients have sought care in the last few weeks.

CHARLA ALDOUS: Many of them are suicidal because they've been waiting to get in, and it's been delayed treatment.

WEBER: Aldous says patients feel the weight of the investigations, too.

ALDOUS: And they're afraid because of the CPS investigation¹². It has really, really traumatized families that have already been marginalized.

WEBER: While the decision on GENECIS is good news for trans families, gender-affirming care in Texas is still precarious¹⁶. Parents throughout the state remain unsure if they'll be able to get the care their kids need.

Back in Austin, Kari expects families will continue to go the distance.

KARI: I can guarantee you that a parent of a transgender kid is not going to just sit here and go, well, sorry, honey, you don't get your hormones¹⁷ anymore. So sorry, the governor said no. We're not those kind of parents. We're fighters.

WEBER: Kari says one thing you shouldn't do in Texas is poke¹⁸ a mama bear.

For NPR News in Austin, I'm Andrew Weber.

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1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

6 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

7 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

8 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

9 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

14 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

15 trampling   

踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• Diplomats denounced the leaders for trampling their citizens' civil rights. 外交官谴责这些领导人践踏其公民的公民权。
• They don't want people trampling the grass, pitching tents or building fires. 他们不希望人们踩踏草坪、支帐篷或生火。

16 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

17 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

18 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。