Protecting Children From Experimentation Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1597 To amend chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit gender transition procedures on minors, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 15, 2023 Mr. MARSHALL (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. DAINES, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. MULLIN, and Mr. WICKER) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit gender transition procedures on minors, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Children 4 From Experimentation Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. GENDER TRANSITION PROCEDURES ON MINORS 6 PROHIBITED. 7 Chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, is 8 amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1597.IS S1597 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1597 IS (1) by adding at the end the following: 1 ‘‘§ 2260B. Gender transition procedures on minors 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any physical or mental 3 healthcare professional who knowingly performs or pro- 4 vides a referral for any gender transition procedure on a 5 minor shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 6 than 5 years, or both. 7 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON PROSECUTION OF PERSON ON 8 WHOM PROCEDURES ARE PERFORMED.—No person on 9 whom the gender transition procedure under subsection 10 (a) is performed may be arrested or prosecuted for an of- 11 fense under this section. 12 ‘‘(c) CIVIL ACTION.—A person on whom a gender 13 transition procedure is performed under this section may 14 bring a civil action for appropriate relief against each per- 15 son who performed the gender transition procedure. 16 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 ‘‘(1) BIOLOGICAL SEX.—The term ‘biological 18 sex’ means the biological indication of male and fe- 19 male in the context of reproductive potential or ca- 20 pacity, such as sex chromosomes, naturally occurring 21 sex hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous internal 22 and external genitalia present at birth, without re- 23 gard to the psychological, chosen, or subjective expe- 24 rience of the gender of an individual. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1597.IS S1597 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1597 IS ‘‘(2) CROSS-SEX HORMONES.—The term ‘cross- 1 sex hormones’ means— 2 ‘‘(A) testosterone or other androgens given 3 to biological females at doses that are pro- 4 foundly larger or more potent than would nor- 5 mally occur naturally in healthy biological fe- 6 males; and 7 ‘‘(B) estrogen given to biological males at 8 doses that are profoundly larger or more potent 9 than would normally occur naturally in healthy 10 biological males. 11 ‘‘(3) GENDER.—The term ‘gender’ means the 12 psychological, behavioral, social, and cultural aspects 13 of being male or female. 14 ‘‘(4) GENDER TRANSITION.—The term ‘gender 15 transition’ means the process in which an individual 16 goes from identifying with and living as a gender 17 that corresponds to his or her biological sex to iden- 18 tifying with and living as a gender different from his 19 or her biological sex, and may involve social, legal, 20 or physical changes. 21 ‘‘(5) GENDER TRANSITION PROCEDURE.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘gender 23 transition procedure’ means any medical or sur- 24 gical service that seeks— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1597.IS S1597 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1597 IS ‘‘(i) to alter or remove physical or an- 1 atomical characteristics or features that 2 are typical for the individual’s biological 3 sex; or 4 ‘‘(ii) to instill or create physiological 5 or anatomical characteristics that resemble 6 a sex different from the individual’s birth 7 sex. 8 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—For purposes of sub- 9 paragraph (A), the term ‘medical or surgical 10 service’ includes— 11 ‘‘(i) physician’s services; 12 ‘‘(ii) inpatient and outpatient hospital 13 services; 14 ‘‘(iii) prescribed drugs relating to gen- 15 der transition; 16 ‘‘(iv) a medical service that provides— 17 ‘‘(I) puberty-blocking drugs; 18 ‘‘(II) cross-sex hormones; or 19 ‘‘(III) other mechanisms to pro- 20 mote the development of feminizing or 21 masculinizing features (in the opposite 22 sex); and 23 ‘‘(v) gender transition surgery. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1597.IS S1597 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1597 IS ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘gender 1 transition procedure’ does not include— 2 ‘‘(i) services to individuals born with a 3 medically verifiable disorder of sex develop- 4 ment, including an individual with external 5 biological sex characteristics that are 6 irresolvably ambiguous, such as an indi- 7 vidual born with 46 XX chromosomes with 8 virilization, an individual born with 46 XY 9 chromosomes with undervirilization, or an 10 individual born having both ovarian and 11 testicular tissue; 12 ‘‘(ii) services provided when a physi- 13 cian has otherwise diagnosed a disorder of 14 sexual development in which the physician 15 has determined through genetic or bio- 16 chemical testing that the individual does 17 not have normal sex chromosome struc- 18 ture, sex steroid hormone production, or 19 sex steroid hormone action for a biological 20 male or biological female; or 21 ‘‘(iii) the treatment of any infection, 22 injury, disease, or disorder that has been 23 caused by or exacerbated by the perform- 24 ance of gender transition procedures, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1597.IS S1597 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1597 IS whether or not the gender transition proce- 1 dure was performed in accordance with 2 State and Federal law or whether or not 3 funding for the gender transition proce- 4 dure is permissible under this section. 5 ‘‘(6) GENDER TRANSITION SURGERY.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘gender 7 transition surgery’ means any medical or sur- 8 gical service that seeks to surgically alter or re- 9 move healthy physical or anatomical character- 10 istics or features that are typical for the indi- 11 vidual’s biological sex in order to instill or cre- 12 ate physiological or anatomical characteristics 13 that resemble a sex different from the individ- 14 ual’s birth sex. 15 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘gender 16 transition surgery’ includes genital gender tran- 17 sition surgery and non-genital gender transition 18 surgery. 19 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘gender 20 transition surgery’ does not include any proce- 21 dure undertaken because the individual suffers 22 from a physical disorder, physical injury, or 23 physical illness that would, as certified by a 24 physician, place the individual in imminent dan- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1597.IS S1597 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1597 IS ger of death or impairment of major bodily 1 function unless surgery is performed for the 2 purpose of a gender transition or for the allevi- 3 ation of psychological or mental distress. 4 ‘‘(7) GENITAL GENDER TRANSITION SUR- 5 GERY.—The term ‘genital gender transition surgery’ 6 means a surgical procedure performed for the pur- 7 pose of assisting an individual with a gender transi- 8 tion, including— 9 ‘‘(A) for biologically male patients, a 10 penectomy, orchiectomy, vaginoplasty, 11 clitoroplasty, and vulvoplasty; and 12 ‘‘(B) for biologically female patients, a 13 hysterectomy/ovariectomy, reconstruction of the 14 fixed part of the urethra with or without a 15 metoidioplasty or a phalloplasty, vaginectomy, 16 scrotoplasty, and implantation of erection or 17 testicular prostheses. 18 ‘‘(8) MINOR.—The term ‘minor’ means an indi- 19 vidual under the age of 18. 20 ‘‘(9) NON-GENITAL GENDER TRANSITION SUR- 21 GERY.—The term ‘non-genital gender transition sur- 22 gery’ means a surgical procedure performed for the 23 purpose of assisting an individual with a gender 24 transition, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1597.IS S1597 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1597 IS ‘‘(A) for biologically male patients, aug- 1 mentation mammoplasty, facial feminization 2 surgery, liposuction, lipofilling, voice surgery, 3 thyroid cartilage reduction, gluteal augmenta- 4 tion (implants/lipofilling), hair reconstruction, 5 and various aesthetic procedures; and 6 ‘‘(B) for biologically female patients, sub- 7 cutaneous mastectomy, voice surgery, 8 liposuction, lipofilling, pectoral implants, and 9 various aesthetic procedures. 10 ‘‘(10) PUBERTY-BLOCKING DRUGS.—The term 11 ‘puberty-blocking drugs’ means— 12 ‘‘(A) Gonadotropin-releasing hormone 13 (GnRH) analogues or other synthetic drugs 14 used in biological males to stop luteinizing hor- 15 mone secretion and therefore testosterone secre- 16 tion; and 17 ‘‘(B) synthetic drugs used in biological fe- 18 males that stop the production of estrogen and 19 progesterone, when used to delay or suppress 20 pubertal development in children for the pur- 21 pose of assisting an individual with a gender 22 transition.’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1597.IS S1597 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1597 IS (2) by amending the table of sections for such 1 chapter by adding at the end the following: 2 ‘‘2260B. Gender transition procedures on minors.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1597.IS S1597 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB