A Texas doctor has given up her medical license following a lawsuit from Attorney General Ken Paxton over gender transition treatments provided to minors.
Dr. May Lau surrendered her Texas medical license after Paxton sued her for prescribing cross-sex hormones to children. The surrender permanently prevents Lau from practicing medicine in Texas, though the legal case against her continues.
One Patient’s Story
Claire Abernathy was 14 years old when Dr. Lau prescribed testosterone at Cook Children’s Hospital in Dallas. Just a week after her 14th birthday, Claire began taking the hormone.
Six months later, another doctor performed a double mastectomy on Claire at the American Institute for Plastic Surgery in Plano. She was between eighth and ninth grade. The surgery happened after only a 15-minute consultation.
“I was too young to get a tattoo. I was too young to drive. I hadn’t even learned algebra in high school yet, but I was old enough to choose to have healthy parts of my body electively amputated,” Claire testified before the Federal Trade Commission.
Claire started identifying as transgender at age 10, shortly after experiencing a traumatic sexual assault. Medical professionals told her and her mother Carrie that transition would “fix her distress and save her life.” They said if Claire didn’t transition, she would “probably end up dead.”
Claire’s mother faced an impossible choice. “If my child is going to kill herself if I don’t affirm her, I’m going to do whatever I have to do to save my child’s life,” Carrie said. “That was kind of a no-brainer.”
Only eight months passed between Claire being referred for gender therapy and having her breasts surgically removed.
Claire has been detransitioning for about three years. Now 20 years old, she speaks publicly about her experience. “I was always just a girl with trauma with a hard relationship with her body,” she said.
The Lawsuit Against Dr. Lau
Attorney General Paxton sued Dr. Lau in October 2024 for allegedly prescribing testosterone to 21 minor patients between ages 14 and 17 after Texas’ Senate Bill 14 ban took effect in September 2023.
The lawsuit also accused Lau of inserting a puberty blocker device in a 15-year-old patient and allegedly falsifying billing records to hide the gender dysphoria diagnosis. Paxton called her a “scofflaw” and “radical gender activist.”
During the ongoing case, Paxton entered into a Rule 11 agreement with Lau that stopped her from practicing medicine on any patients while the litigation proceeded. The license surrender makes that restriction permanent. Lau can no longer legally practice medicine in Texas or treat patients in the state.
The underlying lawsuit alleges Lau violated Texas state law by prescribing cross-sex hormones to minors for gender transition purposes. That case remains active in the courts despite the license surrender.
Paxton’s Statement
“Doctors who permanently hurt kids by giving them experimental drugs are nothing more than disturbed left-wing activists who have no business being in the medical field,” Paxton said. “May Lau has done untold damage to children, both physically and psychologically, and the surrendering of her Texas medical license is a major victory for our state.”
Paxton stated his office will continue pursuing the case against Lau for allegedly breaking state law. “We will not relent in holding anyone who tries to ‘transition’ kids accountable,” he added.
Dr. Lau’s Response
Dr. Lau maintains her innocence and says she moved her medical practice to Oregon. “Dr. Lau continues to deny the Texas Attorney General’s politically- and ideologically-driven allegations,” according to a statement from her attorney Craig Smyser.
Lau argues the court has no jurisdiction over her and that the venue where Paxton filed the case—the county where the Attorney General has a residence rather than where Lau practiced medicine—is legally invalid.
What This Means
The license surrender represents a permanent bar from medical practice in Texas. Unlike a suspension, which allows for potential reinstatement, a surrender typically cannot be reversed without going through the full licensing process again from the beginning.
Texas implemented Senate Bill 14 in September 2023, restricting certain medical treatments for minors related to gender transition. The Attorney General’s office has taken an active role in enforcing these policies through litigation against medical providers.
Lau was an adolescent medicine specialist at Children’s Medical Center Dallas and an associate professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She is no longer listed in UT Southwestern’s directory.
Background on Texas Law
Texas Senate Bill 14, signed by Governor Greg Abbott in 2023, prohibits physicians and healthcare providers from prescribing hormones to minors to transition their biological sex. The law also bans transition-related surgeries for minors, though those procedures are rarely performed on children.
The Texas Supreme Court upheld the law in June 2024 after medical providers, associations, and families of transgender youth sued to block it.
More Information
Texas Attorney General’s Office: texasattorneygeneral.gov
Claire Abernathy shares her story publicly on social media: @burnyourbinder on X/Twitter
