Besides the SOTU, yesterday was probably more notable as being the first primary of 2022, and that means Texas (America’s Lab for Bad Policy).
Axios’ morning email thingie:
In the first midterm contests, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) was forced into a May primary runoff with Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who is the nephew of one president and grandson of another, AP reports.
- Why it matters: Paxton was endorsed by former President Trump. While Paxton won more votes than Bush, his failure to win outright could raise questions about the power of Trump’s endorsement.
Oddly, no one is mentioning blog favorite candidate for Texas AG, Screwie Louie Gohmert, who came in an astounding 4th place behind the crook, Pee (¡JEB’s! son), and someone named Eva Guzman. Texas is gonna miss out on some fine comedy. Oh, well!
Zoom out: Gov. Greg Abbott (R) will face Democrat Beto O’Rourke in November.
- Abbott is in a commanding position as he seeks a third term: He begins his run with more than $50 million, with a strongly conservative agenda in America’s largest Republican state.
- O’Rourke faces an uphill effort to recapture the magic of his 2018 Senate campaign, when he nearly ousted Sen. Ted Cruz.
And as long as we are talking ’bout Abbott:
[Texas officials] have begun investigating parents of transgender adolescents for possible child abuse, after Gov. Greg Abbott directed them last week to handle certain medical treatments as possible crimes.
Among the first to be investigated was an employee of the state protective services agency who has a 16-year-old transgender child. On Tuesday, the ACLU of Texas and Lambda Legal went to state court in Austin to try to stop the inquiry.
I believe Texans generally love their kids (good for Beto), I worry that they love their guns more (bad for Beto). Nonetheless, Abbott has given Beto a wedge issue —prosecuting parents of trans kids— that cuts both ways. I know this is crass, but I hope for all the right reasons Beto uses this.
It’s shameful of Abbott.
Mock Paper Scissors 
What does it say about the state of the country (not to mention, the world) when we have to fight cruel, insane, fascist dictators both abroad and at home? 😢
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The HHS site for reporting HIPPA violations is https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html
“Executive Orders” are not a valid reason to hand over individual PHI. The Governor cannot unilaterally declare a medical procedure ‘child abuse’ no matter how much he wants to.
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Access the child’s medical records? What about Hippa laws?
If a doctor can’t talk to a lawyer in ANY other case because of Hippa laws, then why is it OK in this case? How can this be possible? I know that if I was a parent, I would be fighting this tooth & nail.
While I personally believe that putting a child on heavy-duty meds for ANY reason except to save the life of that child (like, if the kid has cancer) is tantamount to child abuse – but not child abuse per se. I understand that just because a parent is at their wit’s end with whatever problem their kid has & this is what the doctor says to do & this is what the kid says will make him/her “feel” better, the parent will go along with what the current protocol is, however much they might not want to, because I am a parent & I have gone through that myself.
The fact that this whole thing has because so F*ng politicalized is egregious. I blame both the left & the right for this political struggle. Nobody seems to care about the kids in this situation. It’s all about money & power.
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Take note, guys, that it’s HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), not HIPPA. A good way to remember: if you’re one letter off on “hippo,” you’re spelling it wrong. 😂
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Yeah, I know, I know. Embarrassing since I’m the HIPAA privacy officer for my college 8-(
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