Protecting Children From Experimentation Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3328 To amend chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, to prohibit gender transition procedures on minors, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2023 Mr. LAMALFA (for himself, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. BANKS, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. BABIN, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. ROSENDALE, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. BRECHEEN, Mr. NORMAN, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. MILLS, Mr. BURLISON, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mrs. MCCLAIN, Mrs. LESKO, Mrs. HARSHBARGER, Mr. NEHLS, Mr. KELLY of Mis- sissippi, Mr. FALLON, Mr. LATURNER, Mr. SELF, Mr. OGLES, Mr. GAETZ, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. ALLEN, and Mr. MOONEY) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3328 IH SEC. 2. GENDER TRANSITION PROCEDURES ON MINORS 1 PROHIBITED. 2 Chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, is 3 amended— 4 (1) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘§ 2260B. Gender transition procedures on minors 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any physical or mental 7 healthcare professional who knowingly performs or pro- 8 vides a referral for any gender transition procedure on a 9 minor shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 10 than 5 years, or both. 11 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON PROSECUTION OF PERSON ON 12 WHOM PROCEDURES ARE PERFORMED.—No person on 13 whom the gender transition procedure under subsection 14 (a) is performed may be arrested or prosecuted for an of- 15 fense under this section. 16 ‘‘(c) CIVIL ACTION.—A person on whom a gender 17 transition procedure is performed under this section may 18 bring a civil action for appropriate relief against each per- 19 son who performed the gender transition procedure. 20 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 ‘‘(1) BIOLOGICAL SEX.—The term ‘biological 22 sex’ means the biological indication of male and fe- 23 male in the context of reproductive potential or ca- 24 pacity, such as sex chromosomes, naturally occurring 25 sex hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous internal 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3328 IH and external genitalia present at birth, without re- 1 gard to the psychological, chosen, or subjective expe- 2 rience of the gender of an individual. 3 ‘‘(2) CROSS-SEX HORMONES.—The term ‘cross- 4 sex hormones’ means— 5 ‘‘(A) testosterone or other androgens given 6 to biological females at doses that are pro- 7 foundly larger or more potent than would nor- 8 mally occur naturally in healthy biological fe- 9 males; and 10 ‘‘(B) estrogen given to biological males at 11 doses that are profoundly larger or more potent 12 than would normally occur naturally in healthy 13 biological males. 14 ‘‘(3) GENDER.—The term ‘gender’ means the 15 psychological, behavioral, social, and cultural aspects 16 of being male or female. 17 ‘‘(4) GENDER TRANSITION.—The term ‘gender 18 transition’ means the process in which an individual 19 goes from identifying with and living as a gender 20 that corresponds to his or her biological sex to iden- 21 tifying with and living as a gender different from his 22 or her biological sex, and may involve social, legal, 23 or physical changes. 24 ‘‘(5) GENDER TRANSITION PROCEDURE.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3328 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘gender 1 transition procedure’ means any medical or sur- 2 gical service that seeks— 3 ‘‘(i) to alter or remove physical or an- 4 atomical characteristics or features that 5 are typical for the individual’s biological 6 sex; or 7 ‘‘(ii) to instill or create physiological 8 or anatomical characteristics that resemble 9 a sex different from the individual’s birth 10 sex. 11 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—For purposes of sub- 12 paragraph (A), the term ‘medical or surgical 13 service’ includes— 14 ‘‘(i) physician’s services; 15 ‘‘(ii) inpatient and outpatient hospital 16 services; 17 ‘‘(iii) prescribed drugs relating to gen- 18 der transition; 19 ‘‘(iv) a medical service that provides— 20 ‘‘(I) puberty-blocking drugs; 21 ‘‘(II) cross-sex hormones; or 22 ‘‘(III) other mechanisms to pro- 23 mote the development of feminizing or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3328 IH masculinizing features (in the opposite 1 sex); and 2 ‘‘(v) gender transition surgery. 3 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘gender 4 transition procedure’ does not include— 5 ‘‘(i) services to individuals born with a 6 medically verifiable disorder of sex develop- 7 ment, including an individual with external 8 biological sex characteristics that are 9 irresolvably ambiguous, such as an indi- 10 vidual born with 46 XX chromosomes with 11 virilization, an individual born with 46 XY 12 chromosomes with undervirilization, or an 13 individual born having both ovarian and 14 testicular tissue; 15 ‘‘(ii) services provided when a physi- 16 cian has otherwise diagnosed a disorder of 17 sexual development in which the physician 18 has determined through genetic or bio- 19 chemical testing that the individual does 20 not have normal sex chromosome struc- 21 ture, sex steroid hormone production, or 22 sex steroid hormone action for a biological 23 male or biological female; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3328 IH ‘‘(iii) the treatment of any infection, 1 injury, disease, or disorder that has been 2 caused by or exacerbated by the perform- 3 ance of gender transition procedures, 4 whether or not the gender transition proce- 5 dure was performed in accordance with 6 State and Federal law or whether or not 7 funding for the gender transition proce- 8 dure is permissible under this section. 9 ‘‘(6) GENDER TRANSITION SURGERY.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘gender 11 transition surgery’ means any medical or sur- 12 gical service that seeks to surgically alter or re- 13 move healthy physical or anatomical character- 14 istics or features that are typical for the indi- 15 vidual’s biological sex in order to instill or cre- 16 ate physiological or anatomical characteristics 17 that resemble a sex different from the individ- 18 ual’s birth sex. 19 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘gender 20 transition surgery’ includes genital gender tran- 21 sition surgery and non-genital gender transition 22 surgery. 23 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘gender 24 transition surgery’ does not include any proce- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3328 IH dure undertaken because the individual suffers 1 from a physical disorder, physical injury, or 2 physical illness that would, as certified by a 3 physician, place the individual in imminent dan- 4 ger of death or impairment of major bodily 5 function unless surgery is performed for the 6 purpose of a gender transition or for the allevi- 7 ation of psychological or mental distress. 8 ‘‘(7) GENITAL GENDER TRANSITION SUR- 9 GERY.—The term ‘genital gender transition surgery’ 10 means a surgical procedure performed for the pur- 11 pose of assisting an individual with a gender transi- 12 tion, including— 13 ‘‘(A) for biologically male patients, a 14 penectomy, orchiectomy, vaginoplasty, 15 clitoroplasty, and vulvoplasty; and 16 ‘‘(B) for biologically female patients, a 17 hysterectomy/ovariectomy, reconstruction of the 18 fixed part of the urethra with or without a 19 metoidioplasty or a phalloplasty, vaginectomy, 20 scrotoplasty, and implantation of erection or 21 testicular prostheses. 22 ‘‘(8) MINOR.—The term ‘minor’ means an indi- 23 vidual under the age of 18. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3328 IH ‘‘(9) NON-GENITAL GENDER TRANSITION SUR- 1 GERY.—The term ‘non-genital gender transition sur- 2 gery’ means a surgical procedure performed for the 3 purpose of assisting an individual with a gender 4 transition, including— 5 ‘‘(A) for biologically male patients, aug- 6 mentation mammoplasty, facial feminization 7 surgery, liposuction, lipofilling, voice surgery, 8 thyroid cartilage reduction, gluteal augmenta- 9 tion (implants/lipofilling), hair reconstruction, 10 and various aesthetic procedures; and 11 ‘‘(B) for biologically female patients, sub- 12 cutaneous mastectomy, voice surgery, 13 liposuction, lipofilling, pectoral implants, and 14 various aesthetic procedures. 15 ‘‘(10) PUBERTY-BLOCKING DRUGS.—The term 16 ‘puberty-blocking drugs’ means— 17 ‘‘(A) Gonadotropin-releasing hormone 18 (GnRH) analogues or other synthetic drugs 19 used in biological males to stop luteinizing hor- 20 mone secretion and therefore testosterone secre- 21 tion; and 22 ‘‘(B) synthetic drugs used in biological fe- 23 males that stop the production of estrogen and 24 progesterone, when used to delay or suppress 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3328.IH H3328 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3328 IH pubertal development in children for the pur- 1 pose of assisting an individual with a gender 2 transition.’’; and 3 (2) by amending the table of sections for such 4 chapter by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘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\H3328.IH H3328 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB