I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1276 
To protect children from medical malpractice in the form of gender transition 
procedures. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 1, 2023 
Mr. BANKS (for himself, Mr. BABIN, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. 
GROTHMAN, and Mr. NORMAN) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
the Committees on the Judiciary, Education and the Workforce, Natural 
Resources, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To protect children from medical malpractice in the form 
of gender transition procedures. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Minors from 
Medical Malpractice Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR A GENDER-TRANSI-
TION PROCEDURE PERFORMED ON A MINOR. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A medical practitioner, in any cir-
cumstance described in subsection (c), who performs a 
gender-transition procedure on an individual who is less 
than 18 years of age shall, as described in subsection (b), 
be liable to the individual if injured (including any phys-
ical, psychological, emotional, or physiological harms) by 
such procedure, related treatment, or the after effects of 
the procedure or treatment. 
(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—An individual cov-
ered by subsection (a) who receives a gender-transition 
procedure from a medical practitioner (or a representative, 
including a legal guardian, on behalf of such individual) 
may, not later than the day that is 30 years after the date 
on which the individual turns 18 years of age, bring a civil 
action against such medical practitioner in a court of com-
petent jurisdiction for— 
(1) declaratory or injunctive relief; 
(2) compensatory damages; 
(3) punitive damages; and 
(4) attorney’s fees and costs. 
(c) CIRCUMSTANCES.—For the purposes of sub-
section (a), the circumstances described in this subsection 
are that— 
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(1) the medical practitioner or the individual re-
ceiving the gender-transition procedure traveled in 
interstate or foreign commerce, or traveled using a 
means, channel, facility, or instrumentality of inter-
state or foreign commerce, in furtherance of or in 
connection with the conduct described in subsection 
(a); 
(2) the medical practitioner used a means, 
channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or 
foreign commerce in furtherance of or in connection 
with the conduct described in subsection (a); 
(3) any payment of any kind was made, directly 
or indirectly, in furtherance of or in connection with 
the conduct described in subsection (a) using any 
means, channel, facility, or instrumentality of inter-
state or foreign commerce or in or affecting inter-
state or foreign commerce; 
(4) the medical practitioner transmitted in 
interstate or foreign commerce any communication 
relating to or in furtherance of the conduct de-
scribed in subsection (a) 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 
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by computer, mail, wire, or electromagnetic trans-
mission; 
(5) any instrument, item, substance, or other 
object that has traveled in interstate or foreign com-
merce was used to perform the conduct described in 
subsection (a); 
(6) the conduct described in subsection (a) oc-
curred within the special maritime and territorial ju-
risdiction of the United States, or any territory or 
possession of the United States; or 
(7) the conduct described in subsection (a) oth-
erwise occurred in or affected interstate or foreign 
commerce. 
SEC. 3. PRESERVING FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE AND MED-
ICAL JUDGEMENT FOR MEDICAL PROVIDERS. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no provi-
sion of Federal law shall require, or be construed to re-
quire, a medical practitioner to perform a gender-transi-
tion procedure. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING FOR CERTAIN STATES. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 
State that requires medical practitioners to perform any 
gender-transition procedure on an individual in the State 
shall be ineligible to receive any Federal funding from the 
Department of Health and Human Services. 
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SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) BIOLOGICAL
SEX.—The term ‘‘biological 
sex’’ means the genetic classification of an individual 
as male or female, as reflected in the organization 
of the body of such individual for a reproductive role 
or capacity, such as through sex chromosomes, natu-
rally occurring sex hormones, and internal and ex-
ternal genitalia present at birth, without regard to 
the subjective sense of identity of the individual. 
(2) GENDER-TRANSITION PROCEDURE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘gender-transition 
procedure’’ means— 
(i) the prescription or administration 
of puberty-blocking drugs for the purpose 
of changing the body of an individual so 
that it conforms to the subjective sense of 
identity of the individual, in the case such 
identity is at odds with the individual’s bi-
ological sex; 
(ii) the prescription or administration 
of cross-sex hormones for the purpose of 
changing the body of an individual so that 
it conforms to the subjective sense of iden-
tity of the individual, in the case such 
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identity is at odds with the individual’s bi-
ological sex; or 
(iii) a surgery to change the body of 
an individual so that it conforms to the 
subjective sense of identity of the indi-
vidual, in the case such identity is at odds 
with the individual’s biological sex. 
(B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘‘gender-tran-
sition procedure’’ does not include— 
(i) an intervention described in sub-
paragraph (A) that is performed on— 
(I) an individual with biological 
sex characteristics that are inherently 
ambiguous, such as those born with 
46 XX chromosomes with virilization, 
XY 
chromosomes 
with 
undervirilization, or having both ovar-
ian and testicular tissue; or 
(II) an individual with respect to 
whom a physician has determined 
through genetic or biochemical testing 
that the individual does not have nor-
mal sex chromosome structure, sex 
steroid hormone production, or sex 
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steroid hormone action, for a biologi-
cal male or biological female; 
(ii) the treatment of any infection, in-
jury, disease, or disorder that has been 
caused or exacerbated by the performance 
of an intervention described in subpara-
graph (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 2; or 
(iii) any procedure undertaken be-
cause the individual suffers from a physical 
disorder, physical injury, or physical illness 
that would, as certified by a physician, 
place the individual in imminent danger of 
death or impairment of major bodily func-
tion unless the procedure is performed. 
(3) MEDICAL PRACTITIONER.—The term ‘‘med-
ical practitioner’’ means a person 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 the person’s profession. 
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SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall take effect on the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
Æ 
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