H.R. 7651

[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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