The U.S. House moved to ban transgender surgeries, hormone treatments, and puberty blockers for minors on Wednesday with a narrow, largely party-line vote on the Protect Children’s Innocence Act.
The House voted narrowly in favor of the bill, with a 216-211 vote, and opposition from both Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Jared Golden (D-Maine).
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) sponsored the bill. She was present to vote in favor of it despite announcing last month that she would be leaving Congress mid-term following a high-profile argument with President Donald Trump.
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The bill drew 44 co-sponsors and support from the vast majority of Republicans.
Notably, four Republicans—Reps. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Mike Kennedy (R-Utah), and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.)—joined the majority of Democrats in opposing the bill to prevent children from receiving irreversible, sterilizing surgeries and treatments.
Three Democrats, Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.), Don Davis (D-N.C.), and Vicente Gonzalez (D-Tex.), all broke with their party majority and voted to protect minors from transgender genital mutilating surgeries.
The bill establishes federal criminal offenses for anyone providing so-called “gender-affirming care” to minors. Under the bill, it will become a federal crime to knowingly perform any procedure or provide any medication meant to make a minor’s body appear like that of the opposite sex.
In order to avoid interfering with legitimate medical practices, the bill includes exceptions for surgeries and treatments for those with ovarian and testicular tissue, abnormal sex chromosome structures, or hormonal issues, or in order to correct infections caused by a previous gender-transition procedure.
People who have undergone transgender treatments are exempt from prosecution under the law.
The new federal crime would carry a maximum 10-year prison sentence and potential fines.
The bill also makes some alterations to existing law banning female genital mutilation, prohibiting anyone from consenting to the procedure on behalf of a minor.
Though the bill narrowly passed through the House, it appears extremely unlikely to pass through the Senate, where it would need to overcome the filibuster and secure 60 votes. This would require all Republicans to support the bill and would need seven Democrats to break with their party.
While the bill will likely not pass into law, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced just one day after the bill passed through the House that his department would be taking action to end transgender surgeries for minors.
Under the new HHS directive, no hospitals that perform transgender surgeries or provide drugs for the purpose of facilitating a gender transition will be allowed to receive federal Medicaid funding.
“Nearly all U.S. hospitals participate in Medicare and Medicaid and this action is designed to ensure that the U.S. government will not be in business with organizations that intentionally or unintentionally inflict permanent harm on children,” said the HHS.
The new directive comes in compliance with President Donald Trump’s January 28 executive order protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation. That order explicitly instructed the HHS to take regulatory action to end child gender transitions.
