Chloe Cole Act of 2026

[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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