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Texas Gov. Abbott signed executive order directing six agencies to investigate birth tourism hospitals, threatening license revocations

On July 21, 2026, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order directing six state agencies — including the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas Medical Board, and the Texas Board of Nursing — to investigate and eliminate "birth tourism" schemes in the state's healthcare industry. The order authorizes enforcement actions including revoking or suspending provider licenses, prohibiting state contract participation, and denying state benefits to any licensed healthcare provider found to be participating in such schemes. The action was prompted by reports about marketing materials from Mission Regional Medical Center in the Rio Grande Valley, though that facility stated the materials in question were no longer in use.

Jurisdiction
Texas
Location
Austin, Texas

Abuses documented

Actors

On July 21, 2026, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order directing six state regulatory agencies to investigate "birth tourism" schemes and authorizing enforcement actions — including license revocations, state contract exclusions, and denial of state benefits — against healthcare providers found to be participating. The six directed agencies are the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), the Department of State Health Services, the HHSC Office of Inspector General, the Texas Medical Board, the Texas Board of Nursing, and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Abbott stated that "Texas will not tolerate the exploitation of our immigration laws by individuals traveling to the United States illegally or under false pretenses to give birth and secure citizenship for their child." The order was preceded by an earlier Abbott directive to the HHSC to investigate birth tourism, triggered by reports about marketing materials from Mission Regional Medical Center in the Rio Grande Valley. The medical center said in a statement that it had been sharing information about available healthcare services "like hospitals across the country" and that the materials referenced were no longer in use.

The executive order uses state occupational licensing authority — wielded by the Medical Board, Board of Nursing, and other regulatory agencies — to penalize providers based on the immigration status or travel purpose of their patients, rather than on any clinical or safety standard. Legal experts have noted that birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, a constitutional provision the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed just weeks earlier when it rejected a Trump executive order seeking to restrict it. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that birth tourism accounts for roughly 5,000 to 26,000 of approximately 3.5 million annual U.S. births, making it a numerically marginal phenomenon.

Why we recorded this

Civil rights and equal protection require that government not use state licensing power to penalize providers based on their patients' national origin or immigration status. On July 21, 2026, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order directing six state regulatory agencies to investigate and potentially revoke licenses, bar state contracts, and deny state benefits to hospitals and medical providers who serve "birth tourism" patients. The order weaponizes occupational licensing as a tool to deter healthcare access based on the immigration status or travel purpose of patients, establishing a state precedent for conditioning medical practice on patient demographics rather than clinical standards.

Sources

  1. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs executive order over "birth tourism," targets hospitals and providers — CBS News Texas secondary accessed July 24, 2026
  2. Governor Abbott Issues Executive Order To Protect Texas From Illegal Birth Tourism Schemes — Office of the Texas Governor primary accessed July 24, 2026

See also