Protect Children’s Innocence Act
Protect Children’s Innocence Act
Plain Language Summary
# Protect Children's Innocence Act - Plain Language Summary **What the Bill Does:** This bill would make it a federal crime to provide gender-affirming medical care to minors under age 18. This includes surgeries and hormone treatments intended to help transgender youth align their bodies with their gender identity. Violations could result in fines and up to 10 years in prison. The bill includes exceptions for treating certain intersex conditions (where individuals are born with both ovarian and testicular tissue or atypical sex chromosomes) and for addressing complications from previous procedures. **Who It Affects:** The bill would primarily affect medical providers—doctors, surgeons, and other healthcare professionals—who currently provide gender-affirming care to minors.
It would also impact transgender and gender-nonconforming youth and their families, as it would restrict access to treatments that some families and medical providers currently pursue. The bill protects patients from prosecution. **Current Status:** The bill has passed the House of Representatives. It would need to pass the Senate and be signed by the President to become law. This is a politically contested issue, with supporters arguing it protects children from irreversible medical decisions, while opponents contend it restricts medical freedom and harms vulnerable youth.
CRS Official Summary
Protect Children’s Innocence Act of 2025This bill establishes federal criminal offenses for providing gender-affirming care to minors. The bill also changes the existing federal criminal offense that prohibits female genital mutilation (FGM) and related conduct. Specifically, the bill makes it a federal crime to knowingly perform or attempt to perform procedures or provide medications (e.g., hormonal treatments) to a minor for the purpose of changing their body to correspond to a sex that differs from their biological sex. The bill provides exceptions for specified types of surgeries or procedures, including those for treating (1) individuals who have both ovarian and testicular tissue or abnormal sex chromosome structure or hormones, or (2) infections or other harms that result from a previous gender-transition procedure. A violation is punishable by a fine, a prison term of up to 10 years, or both. The bill prohibits the arrest or prosecution of an individual who undergoes gender-affirming procedures or medications. Additionally, the bill makes changes to the existing federal criminal prohibition on performing FGM on a minor and related conduct. Among the changes, the bill broadens the scope of prohibited conduct to include the facilitation or consent to FGM by any person (currently, prohibited facilitation or consent applies only to a parent, guardian, or caretaker of the minor). The bill also prohibits the arrest or prosecution of an individual who undergoes FGM. The bill does not change the applicable criminal penalty of a fine, a prison term of up to 10 years, or both.
Latest Action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.