Sherman, Texas — Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday directed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to open an immediate investigation of Mission Regional Medical Center, a South Texas hospital that state officials say marketed "birth packages" to foreign nationals seeking to give birth in the United States. The governor said the practice, known as birth tourism, exploits the country's hospitality and citizenship laws.
Sherman, the county seat of Grayson County in North Texas, is among the communities whose hospitals and medical facilities operate under state health regulators overseeing compliance across Texas.
"Birth tourism is an illegal practice that exploits the extraordinary hospitality that the United States and Texas offer to millions of foreign travelers each year," said Governor Abbott.
