[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7651 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7651
To provide a private right of action for children and the parents of
children whose healthy body parts have been damaged by medical
professionals practicing or participating in certain interventions.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 23, 2026
Mr. Onder (for himself and Mr. Kennedy of Utah) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide a private right of action for children and the parents of
children whose healthy body parts have been damaged by medical
professionals practicing or participating in certain interventions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Chloe Cole Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Child.--The term ``child'' means an individual under 18
years of age.
(2) Covered interventions.--
(A) In general.--
(i) Interventions.--The term ``covered
intervention'' means providing any of the items
and services described in clause (ii) for the
purpose of--
(I) intentionally delaying,
halting, or disrupting the natural
development of the individual's body,
including the onset or progression of
puberty, so that it does not develop or
halts developing to correspond to the
individual's sex; or
(II) intentionally changing the
individual's body, including the
individual's external appearance or
biological functions, to no longer
correspond to the individual's sex.
(ii) Items and services.--The items and
services described in this clause are--
(I) the use of puberty blockers,
including gonadotropin releasing
hormone agonists and antagonists;
(II) the use of sex hormones, such
as androgen blockers, estrogen, anti-
estrogen, progesterone, testosterone,
or dihydrotestosterone blockers; and
(III) surgical procedures that
attempt to transform an individual's
physical appearance or that attempt to
alter or remove an individual's sexual
organs.
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``covered intervention''
does not include any of the following:
(i) Appropriate and medically necessary
procedures to treat a verifiable disorder of
sexual development, including an individual
born with 46 XX chromosomes with virilization,
with 46 XY chromosomes with undervirilization,
or having both ovarian and testicular tissue.
(ii) The treatment of any infection,
injury, disease, or disorder that has been
caused or exacerbated by the performance of an
intervention described in subparagraph (A)
without regard to whether the intervention was
performed in accordance with State or Federal
law or whether the intervention is covered by
the private right of action under section 4.
(iii) Any intervention undertaken because
the individual suffers from any diagnosed and
verifiable condition of the body's organ
systems, including the following:
(I) Traumatic bodily injuries (such
as fractures, organ rupture, or
penetrating trauma).
(II) Congenital structural
anomalies of major organs or systems,
including the cardiovascular,
respiratory, renal, hepatic,
neurological, or musculoskeletal
systems.
(III) Acute illnesses with a high
probability of rapid mortality.
(3) Detransition treatment.--The term ``detransition
treatment'' means any treatment, medical intervention, or
surgery, that stops, reverses the effects of, or aids in the
recovery from the effects of, a prior covered intervention.
(4) Health care professional.--The term ``health care
professional'' means an individual who is licensed, certified,
or otherwise authorized by the laws of a State to administer
health care in the ordinary course of the practice of his or
her profession or performing such acts which require such
licensure.
(5) Participate.--The term ``participate'', with respect to
acts constituting a covered intervention as defined in
paragraph (1), means directly engaging in the planning,
authorization, prescription, administration, or performance of
any such act, including any of the following:
(A) Prescribing puberty blockers, sex hormones, or
related medications with the intent to delay, halt, or
interrupt an individual's puberty or to alter an
individual's physical appearance or reproductive
function to align with an identity differing from his
or her sex.
(B) Administering medications or treatments
described in subparagraph (A) with such intent, whether
by injection, oral delivery, or other means.
(C) Performing surgical procedures that attempt to
transform an individual's appearance to no longer
correspond to the individual's sex as part of a covered
intervention.
(D) Authorizing or directing such covered
intervention as a supervising health care professional
or institutional representative.
(E) Knowingly planning or coordinating the
provision of treatments or procedures described above
in subparagraph (A), (C), or (D) with the intent to
facilitate a covered intervention.
(6) Sex.--The term ``sex'' means a person's immutable
biological classification, determined at the moment of
conception, as either male or female, as follows:
(A) The term ``female'' is a person who naturally
has, had, will have, or would have but for a congenital
anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the
reproductive system that produces, transports, and
utilizes the large gamete (ova) for fertilization.
(B) The term ``male'' is a person who naturally
has, had, will have, or would have but for a congenital
anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the
reproductive system that produces, transports, and
utilizes the small gamete (sperm) for fertilization.
.
SEC. 3. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.
(a) In General.--An individual subjected as a child to a covered
intervention, or the parents or legal guardians of such individual, may
bring a civil action in an appropriate district court of the United
States for damages against any health care professional, hospital, or
clinic who participates in the covered intervention on that child. Such
a cause of action shall be available regardless of whether the alleged
covered intervention occurred before, on, or after the date of
enactment of this Act.
(b) Damages.--Damages available pursuant to such an action may
include--
(1) compensatory damages, including all economic damages
associated with undoing, correcting, or ameliorating the
effects or results of any covered intervention;
(2) non-economic damages for emotional distress and pain
and suffering; and
(3) punitive damages, if the claimant proves by clear and
convincing evidence that the defendant against whom punitive
damages are sought acted maliciously, intentionally,
fraudulently, or recklessly.
(c) Strict Liability.--Any health care professional, hospital, or
clinic whose participation in a covered intervention on a child after
the date of enactment of this Act is proven by clear and convincing
evidence shall be strictly liable for damages for any such
intervention. If a treatment qualifies under an exception specified in
clauses (i) through (iii) of section 2(2)(B), and that is raised as an
affirmative defense to a violation of this Act, the health care
professional, hospital, or clinic shall bear the burden of proving by
clear and convincing evidence that such exception applies.
(d) Circumstances Described.--The circumstances described in this
subsection are that--
(1) the defendant or child traveled in interstate or
foreign commerce, or traveled using a means, channel, facility,
or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce, in
furtherance of or in connection with the participation in the
covered intervention;
(2) the defendant used a means, channel, facility, or
instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in
furtherance of or in connection with the participation in the
covered intervention;
(3) any payment of any kind was made, directly or
indirectly, in furtherance of or in connection with the
participation in the covered intervention using any means,
channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign
commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce;
(4) the defendant transmitted in interstate or foreign
commerce any communication relating to or in furtherance of the
participation in the covered intervention using any means,
channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign
commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce by
any means or in any manner, including by computer, mail, wire,
or electromagnetic transmission;
(5) any instrument, item, substance, or other object that
has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce was used to
perform the covered intervention;
(6) the covered intervention occurred within the District
of Columbia, the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction
of the United States, or any territory or possession of the
United States; or
(7) the covered intervention otherwise occurred in or
affected interstate or foreign commerce.
SEC. 4. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) No Waiver.--No liability for a health care professional under
these provisions may be waived.
(b) Ambiguities.--Any ambiguities shall be resolved against any
party found to have engaged in participation in a covered intervention
on a child.
(c) Standards of Care.--In any cases in which a covered
intervention on a child is shown to have occurred before the date of
enactment of this Act, there is limited deference to prevailing
standards of care to the extent that such standards contradict the
intent of this Act and it is shown that the health care professional
knew or should have known that such standards of care were in serious,
scientific, and medical dispute at the time of the covered
intervention.
(d) Provision of Information.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to prohibit a health care professional from providing
information about all available treatment options, discussing risks and
benefits, or expressing professional medical opinions, so long as such
actions do not constitute participation in a covered intervention.
SEC. 5. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.
An action under section 3 may be brought within 25 years from the
date of the eighteenth birthday of an individual subjected to a covered
intervention as a child or within 4 years from the time the cost of a
detransition treatment is incurred, whichever date is later.
SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such a
provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, and the application of the
provision to any other person or circumstance, shall not be affected.
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