119-hr4953

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4953 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4953

 To authorize a civil right of action for individuals on whom gender-
 related medical treatment was performed while such individual was a 
 minor, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 August 12, 2025

 Ms. Mace introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To authorize a civil right of action for individuals on whom gender-
 related medical treatment was performed while such individual was a 
 minor, and for other purposes.

 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 ``Gender-Affirming Child Abuse 
Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. CIVIL RIGHT OF ACTION RELATED TO GENDER-RELATED MEDICAL 
 TREATMENT.

    (a) Civil Action.--

    (1) Right of action.--
        (A) Except as provided in paragraph

    (4) , an 
 individual on whom gender-affirming care was performed 
 while such individual was a minor, in a circumstance 
 described in paragraph

    (3) may bring a civil action in 
 an appropriate district court of the United States 
 against each person who performed the gender-affirming 
 care for relief set forth in paragraph

    (2) .
        (B) Rights on behalf of certain individuals.--In 
 the case of an individual who is under 18 years of age, 
 incompetent, incapacitated, or deceased, the legal 
 guardian of the individual or representative of the 
 individual's estate, another family member, or any 
 other person appointed as suitable by the court, may 
 assume the individual's rights under this section.

    (2) Relief.--An individual may recover the actual damages 
 sustained by the individual or liquidated damages in the amount 
 of $250,000 for each instance of gender affirming care being 
 performed on the individual while such individual was a minor, 
 and the cost of the action, including reasonable attorney's 
 fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred.

    (3) Circumstances described.--For the purposes of paragraph

    (1) , the circumstances described in this paragraph are that--
        (A) the defendant or victim 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 conduct described in paragraph

    (1) ;
        (B) the defendant used a means, channel, facility, 
 or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in 
 furtherance of or in connection with the conduct 
 described in paragraph

    (1) ;
            (C) any payment of any kind was made, directly or 
 indirectly, in furtherance of or in connection with the 
 conduct described in paragraph

    (1) using any means, 
 channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or 
 foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or 
 foreign commerce;
            (D) the defendant transmitted in interstate or 
 foreign commerce any communication relating to or in 
 furtherance of the conduct described in paragraph

    (1) 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 
 manner, including by computer, mail, wire, or 
 electromagnetic transmission;
        (E) any instrument, item, substance, or other 
 object that has traveled in interstate or foreign 
 commerce was used to perform the conduct described in 
 paragraph

    (1) ;
        (F) the conduct described in paragraph

    (1) occurred 
 within the special maritime and territorial 
 jurisdiction of the United States, or any territory or 
 possession of the United States; or
        (G) the conduct described in paragraph

    (1) otherwise occurred in or affected interstate or foreign 
 commerce.

    (b) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section--

    (1) Gender-related medical treatment.--The term ``gender-
 related medical treatment''--
        (A) means--
            (i) with respect to a female individual, 
 medical treatments provided for purposes of 
 addressing the perception of such individual 
 that the gender or sex of such individual is 
 not female, including--
            (I) surgical procedures, 
 including--

    (aa) vaginectomy;

    (bb) hysterectomy;
            (cc) oophorectomy;
            (dd) reconstruction of the 
 urethra;

    (ee) metoidioplasty;

    (ff) phalloplasty;

    (gg) salpingo-oophorectomy;

    (hh) scrotoplasty;
            (ii) implantation of 
 erection or testicular 
 protheses;

    (jj) subcutaneous 
 mastectomy;

    (kk) vocal cord surgery;
            (ll) pectoral implants; and
            (mm) penile 
 transplantation;
            (II) exogenous doses of 
 testosterone or other androgens;
            (III) puberty blockers, including--

    (aa) GnRH agonists; and

    (bb) synthetic drugs that 
 suppress the production of 
 estrogen and progesterone or 
 delay or suppress pubertal 
 development in female 
 individuals; and
            (IV) such other medical treatment, 
 identified by the Secretary of Health 
 and Human Services, that may be 
 provided for purposes of addressing the 
 perception of such individual that the 
 gender or sex of such individual is not 
 male.
            (ii) with respect to a male individual, 
 medical treatments provided for purposes of 
 addressing the perception of such individual 
 that the gender or sex of such individual is 
 not male, including--
            (I) surgical procedures, 
 including--

    (aa) penectomy;

    (bb) orchiectomy;
            (cc) vaginoplasty;
            (dd) clitoroplasty;

    (ee) vulvoplasty;

    (ff) augmentation 
 mammoplasty;

    (gg) facial feminization 
 surgery;

    (hh) vocal cord surgery;
            (ii) chondrolaryngoplasty;

    (jj) gluteal augmentation; 
 and

    (kk) uterine 
 transplantation;
            (II) exogenous doses of estrogen;
            (III) puberty blockers, including--

    (aa) GnRH agonists; and

    (bb) synthetic drugs that 
 suppress the production of 
 testosterone or delay or 
 suppress pubertal development 
 in male individuals; and
            (IV) such other medical treatment, 
 identified by the Secretary of Health 
 and Human Services, that may be 
 provided for purposes of addressing the 
 perception of such individual that the 
 gender or sex of such individual is not 
 male.
        (B) does not include any medical treatment 
 performed on an individual for the purposes of 
 treating--
            (i) a disorder of sex development, 
 diagnosed by a physician after such physician 
 has determined through genetic or biochemical 
 testing that such individual does not have 
 normal sex chromosome structure, sex steroid 
 hormone production, or sex steroid hormone 
 action;
            (ii) irresolvably ambiguous biological sex 
 characteristics of such individual, including 
 the presence of--
            (I) 46 XX chromosomes with 
 virilization;
            (II) 46 XY chromosomes with 
 undervirilization; or
            (III) both ovarian and testicular 
 tissue; or
            (iii) an infection, injury, disease, or 
 disorder caused or exacerbated by gender-
 related medical treatment that was furnished to 
 an individual.

    (2) Sex.--The term ``sex'' means the biological 
 determination as to whether an individual is male or female, as 
 such terms are defined in this section.

    (3) Gender.--The term ``gender''--
        (A) means--
            (i) males, females, or the natural 
 differences between males and females, unless 
 such term is otherwise specified or used alone 
 (rather than with or as an adjective modifying 
 other words); and
            (ii) a synonym for sex; and
        (B) does not mean a synonym for terms or ideas such 
 as gender identity, experienced gender, gender 
 expression, or gender roles.

    (4) Female.--The term ``female'' means an individual who 
 naturally has, had, will have, or would have, but for a 
 developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the 
 reproductive system that at some point produces, transports, 
 and utilizes eggs for fertilization.

    (5) Male.--The term ``male'' means an individual who 
 naturally has, had, will have, or would have, but for a 
 developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the 
 reproductive system that at some point produces, transports, 
 and utilizes sperm for fertilization.

    (6) Minor.--The term ``minor'' means an individual under 
 the age of 18.
 <all>