Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Josh Hawley (R-MO), James Lankford (R-OK), and Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act. The legislation would allow individuals who suffered from an irreversible and potentially sterilizing gender-transition procedure as a minor to seek justice in court. U.S. Representative Jim Banks (R-IN) is leading companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
“Children and teens should not have to suffer the consequences of this radical, woke ideology,” Rubio said. “These procedures are dangerous, not approved by the FDA, and can cause permanent physical and psychological harm to the individuals. This bill would ensure that minors are protected and able to seek legal recourse.”
“Gender-transition procedures aren’t safe or appropriate for children,” Cotton said. “Unfortunately, radical doctors in the United States perform dangerous, experimental, and even sterilizing gender-transition procedures on young kids, who cannot even provide informed consent. Our bill allows children who grow up to regret these procedures to sue for damages. Any doctor who performs these irresponsible procedures on kids should pay.”
“The Biden administration released official guidance recommending irreversible and life-altering surgery for minors too young to apply for a learner’s permit,” Banks said. “These procedures lack any solid evidence and have been rejected by public health agencies around the world. Ten years from now, there will be hundreds of thousands of Americans who were permanently scarred by the radical left’s agenda before they reached adulthood. If Democrats truly supported gender-confused children, they’d support our effort to give them legal recourse.”
The Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act would:
- Create a private right of action allowing people who had gender-transition procedures performed on them as minors to sue the medical practitioner who performed the procedure.
- Allows victims or their legal guardian to sue for declaratory or injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and attorney’s fees
- Provides a 30-year statute of limitation after the age of majority
- Applicable to procedures performed after the date of passage of this bill
- Clarifies that federal law cannot be construed to force medical practitioners to offer such procedures.
- Prohibits federal health funds from going to states that force medical practitioners to perform gender-transition procedures.
- Gender-transition procedures include puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures that change an individual’s body in order to align with an identity at odds with an individual’s biological sex.
The legislation is supported by the American Principles Project, Heritage Action, Family Policy Alliance, Family Research Council, Independent Women’s Forum, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, Ethics and Public Policy Center, Alliance Defending Freedom, ForAmerica, Eagle Forum, CHANGED Movement.
