Aubrey, 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.
Aubrey, a town in Denton County north of Dallas, has been one of the fastest-growing communities in North Texas, part of the region's rapid expansion that has drawn new residents from across the country and abroad.
"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.
