Chloe Cole Act

## Summary The Chloe Cole Act would federally ban healthcare professionals, hospitals, and clinics from providing certain medical interventions—such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgeries intended to alter a child’s physical sex characteristics—to minors under 18 years old. The bill defines these interventions as “chemical or surgical mutilation” when used to intentionally change a child’s body to align with a gender identity different from their biological sex (determined at conception). Exceptions are allowed for treatments addressing verifiable intersex conditions (e.g., disorders of sexual development), injuries, congenital anomalies, or acute life-threatening illnesses. The law would create a private right of action, enabling children subjected to these procedures (or their parents) to sue providers for damages, including compensation for detransition-related costs. It applies retroactively, with a 25-year window after a child turns 18 to file lawsuits, or four years from detransition treatment expenses. ## Key Points - Prohibition on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors: Bans puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries aimed at altering a child’s sex characteristics unless they fall under narrow medical exceptions (e.g., intersex conditions, trauma, or acute illness). - Private Right of Action: Allows minors (or their parents) to sue providers for damages if they perform prohibited procedures, including costs to reverse effects, emotional distress, and punitive damages for malicious intent. - Strict Liability for Providers: After the law’s enactment, providers proven to have performed prohibited procedures face automatic liability unless they can prove by “clear and convincing evidence” that the treatment qualified for an exception. - Retroactive Application: Lawsuits can be filed for procedures conducted before the law passes, provided the statute of limitations (25 years post-18th birthday or four years post-detransition cost) has not expired. - Limits on Counseling Protections: Providers cannot be sued solely for discussing treatment options or counseling, but they are liable if they directly participate in prohibited procedures. ## Impact Areas - Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth: Restricts access to gender-affirming care, potentially forcing families to seek such care out-of-state or in legal limbo. - Healthcare Providers: Exposes doctors, hospitals, and clinics to lawsuits for providing care that conflicts with the bill’s definitions, even if state laws or medical guidelines permit it. - Legal and Medical Systems: Could spark constitutional challenges over bodily autonomy, parental rights, and federal vs. state authority in healthcare. Detransition-related lawsuits may increase. - Intersex Individuals: The exception for “disorders of sexual development” may protect some medically necessary care for intersex children but leaves room for ambiguity in interpretation. - Mental Health Professionals: Shielded from liability for counseling alone, but collaboration with medical providers on gender-affirming care could still trigger legal risks. Technical Terms Explained: - Puberty blockers: Medications that pause puberty to delay the development of sex characteristics. - Cross-sex hormones: Hormones (e.g., estrogen for trans girls, testosterone for trans boys) used to develop physical traits of a gender different from assigned sex. - Disorders of sexual development (DSD): Congenital conditions where reproductive anatomy or sex chromosomes don’t fit typical male/female definitions (e.g., ambiguous genitalia). - Detransition: Reversing previous gender-affirming medical or social transitions.