Protect Children’s Innocence Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3492 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3492

 To amend section 116 of title 18, United States Code, with respect to
    genital and bodily mutilation and chemical castration of minors.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 19, 2025

Ms. Greene of Georgia (for herself, Mr. Crane, Mr. Finstad, Mrs. Luna,
  Mrs. Bice, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. McGuire, Mr.
Kustoff, Mr. Biggs of Arizona, Mr. Burlison, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Higgins of
 Louisiana, Mr. Brecheen, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Harris of
 Maryland, Mr. Grothman, Mr. Hern of Oklahoma, Mr. Collins, Mr. Ogles,
   Mr. Babin, Mr. Clyde, Ms. De La Cruz, Ms. Hageman, Mr. Owens, Mr.
 Palmer, Mr. Timmons, Mr. Norman, Mr. Miller of Ohio, Mr. Steube, Mr.
 Jackson of Texas, Mr. Moore of West Virginia, Mr. Comer, Mr. Gill of
   Texas, Mr. Baird, Mr. McDowell, Mrs. Harshbarger, and Mr. Gooden)
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To amend section 116 of title 18, United States Code, with respect to
    genital and bodily mutilation and chemical castration of minors.

    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 ``Protect Children's Innocence Act of
2025''.

SEC. 2. GENITAL AND BODILY MUTILATION OF A MINOR; CHEMICAL CASTRATION
              OF A MINOR.

    (a) In General.--Section 116 of title 18, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 116. Genital and bodily mutilation of a minor; chemical
              castration of a minor
    ``(a) Genital or Bodily Mutilation.--Except as provided in
subsection (g), whoever, in any circumstance described in subsection
(d), knowingly performs, or attempts to perform, genital or bodily
mutilation on another person who is a minor, shall be fined under this
title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
    ``(b) Chemical Castration of a Minor.--Except as provided in
subsection (g), whoever, in any circumstance described in subsection
(d), knowingly chemically castrates a minor shall be fined under this
title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
    ``(c) Certain Offense Related to Female Genital Mutilation.--Except
as provided in subsection (g), whoever, in any circumstance described
in subsection (d), knowingly--
            ``(1) facilitates or consents to female genital mutilation
        of a minor; or
            ``(2) transports a minor for the purpose of the performance
        of female genital mutilation on such minor,
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or
both.
    ``(d) Circumstances Described.--For the purposes of subsections (a)
and (b), the circumstances described in this subsection are that--
            ``(1) 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
        subsection (a) or (b);
            ``(2) 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
        subsection (a) or (b);
            ``(3) any payment of any kind was made, directly or
        indirectly, in furtherance of or in connection with the conduct
        described in subsection (a) or (b) 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
        conduct described in subsection (a) or (b) 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;
            ``(5) any instrument, item, substance, or other object that
        has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce was used to
        perform the conduct described in subsection (a) or (b);
            ``(6) the conduct described in subsection (a) or (b)
        occurred within the special maritime and territorial
        jurisdiction of the United States, or any territory or
        possession of the United States; or
            ``(7) the conduct described in subsection (a) or (b)
        otherwise occurred in or affected interstate or foreign
        commerce.
    ``(e) Prohibition on Certain Defense.--It shall not be a defense to
a prosecution under subsection (a) that female genital mutilation is
required as a matter of religion, custom, tradition, ritual, or
standard practice.
    ``(f) Prohibition on Prosecution of Victim.--No person who is
chemically castrated or on whom genital or bodily mutilation is
performed may be arrested or prosecuted for an offense under this
section.
    ``(g) Exceptions.--
            ``(1) Procedures.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Genital or bodily mutilation or
                chemical castration is not a violation of this section
                if such genital or bodily mutilation or chemical
                castration is--
                            ``(i) necessary to the health of the minor
                        on whom it is conducted, and is conducted by a
                        person licensed in the place of such conduct as
                        a medical practitioner; or
                            ``(ii) in the case of female genital
                        mutilation, performed on a minor in labor or
                        who has just given birth and is performed for
                        medical purposes connected with that labor or
                        birth by a person licensed in the place it is
                        performed as a medical practitioner, midwife,
                        or person in training to become such a
                        practitioner or midwife.
                    ``(B) Health of a minor.--For the purposes of
                subparagraph (A), the health of a minor does not
                include a mental health disorder.
            ``(2) Exemption.--Genital or bodily mutilation or chemical
        castration is not a violation of this section if such genital
        or bodily mutilation or chemical castration is conducted with
        respect to any of the following individuals:
                    ``(A) An individual with both ovarian and
                testicular tissue.
                    ``(B) An individual with respect to whom a
                physician has determined through genetic or biochemical
                testing that the individual does not have normal sex
                chromosome structure, sex steroid hormone production,
                or sex steroid hormone action.
                    ``(C) An individual experiencing infection,
                disease, injury, or disorder caused or exacerbated by
                previous gender transition procedures.
                    ``(D) An individual suffering from a physical
                disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that
                would, as certified by a physician, place the
                individual in imminent danger of impairment of a major
                bodily function unless the procedure is performed.
    ``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Genital or bodily mutilation.--The term `genital or
        bodily mutilation' means, with respect to an individual, any of
        the following:
                    ``(A) Female genital mutilation.
                    ``(B) Any surgery performed for the purpose of
                changing the body of such individual to correspond to a
                sex that differs from their biological sex, including--
                            ``(i) castration;
                            ``(ii) orchiectomy;
                            ``(iii) scrotoplasty;
                            ``(iv) vasectomy;
                            ``(v) hysterectomy;
                            ``(vi) oophorectomy;
                            ``(vii) ovariectomy;
                            ``(viii) metoidioplasty;
                            ``(ix) penectomy;
                            ``(x) phalloplasty;
                            ``(xi) vaginoplasty;
                            ``(xii) vaginectomy;
                            ``(xiii) vulvoplasty;
                            ``(xiv) reduction thyrochondroplasty;
                            ``(xv) chondrolaryngoplasty; and
                            ``(xvi) mastectomy.
                    ``(C) Any plastic surgery that feminizes or
                masculinizes the facial features for the purposes
                described in subparagraph (B).
                    ``(D) Any placement of chest implants to create
                feminine breasts for the purposes described in
                subparagraph (B).
                    ``(E) Any placement of fat or artificial implants
                in the gluteal region for the purposes described in
                subparagraph (B).
            ``(2) Chemical castration.--The term `chemical castration'
        means administering, supplying, prescribing, dispensing,
        distributing, or otherwise conveying to an individual
        medications for the purposes described in paragraph (1)(B),
        including--
                    ``(A) gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)
                analogues or other puberty-blocking drugs to stop or
                delay normal puberty;
                    ``(B) testosterone or other androgens to biological
                females at doses that are supraphysiologic to the
                female sex; and
                    ``(C) estrogen to biological males at doses that
                are supraphysiologic to the male sex.
            ``(3) Biological sex.--The term `biological sex' means the
        indication of male or female sex by reproductive potential or
        capacity, sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones,
        gonads, or internal or external genitalia present at birth.
            ``(4) Female genital mutilation.--The term `female genital
        mutilation' means any procedure performed for non-medical
        reasons that involves partial or total removal of, or other
        injury to, the external female genitalia, and includes--
                    ``(A) a clitoridectomy or the partial or total
                removal of the clitoris or the prepuce or clitoral
                hood;
                    ``(B) excision or the partial or total removal
                (with or without excision of the clitoris) of the labia
                minora or the labia majora, or both;
                    ``(C) infibulation or the narrowing of the vaginal
                opening (with or without excision of the clitoris); or
                    ``(D) other procedures that are harmful to the
                external female genitalia, including pricking,
                incising, scraping, or cauterizing the genital area.
            ``(5) Minor.--The term `minor' means any person under the
        age of eighteen years.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 7 of
title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking the item related
to section 116 and inserting the following:

``116. Genital and bodily mutilation of a minor; chemical castration of
                            a minor.''.
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