Jamie Reed Protecting Our Kids from Child Abuse Act
This bill, titled the Jamie Reed Protecting Our Kids from Child Abuse Act, would create a new federal tort allowing a private right of action for minors who suffered bodily injury or harm to mental health from gender-transition procedures performed before they turned 18. It defines what counts as a gender-transition procedure (including puberty-blocking drugs, hormone therapies, and surgeries) and lists who can be sued (pediatric gender clinics, individual medical practitioners involved in the procedure, and affiliated hospitals and institutions of higher education). The bill also bars federal funding for pediatric gender clinics and affiliated entities, and it imposes a 30-year window after the individual turns 18 during which a lawsuit may be filed. An affirmative defense is provided if the clinic or clinician did not know and had no reason to know the patient was a minor. The act would take effect on enactment and apply retroactively to procedures both before and after that date, with severability to keep the rest of the law in place if any part is struck down. In short, the bill creates a federally grounded civil claim against providers and affiliated entities for harm alleged to have resulted from gender-transition procedures in minors, while simultaneously cutting off federal funding for those clinics and related institutions involved in such care.
Key Points
- 1Creates a federal private right of action for harm to minors from gender-transition procedures, allowing compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees.
- 2Defines gender-transition procedures to include puberty blockers, hormone therapies (testosterone/estrogen), and surgeries intended to align body with the minor’s gender identity; includes specific exceptions.
- 3Establishes who can be sued: the pediatric gender clinic, medical practitioners involved in the procedure, and affiliated hospitals/medical schools or institutions of higher education.
- 4Prohibits federal funding to pediatric gender clinics and their affiliated hospitals, medical schools, and related institutions, and prohibits funding for any gender-transition procedure performed on a minor.
- 5Provides an affirmative defense that the clinic or practitioner did not know and had no reason to know the patient was a minor.
- 6Effective date: takes effect on enactment and applies retroactively to procedures before, on, or after that date.
- 7Includes a severability provision to keep the rest of the law intact if any provision is unconstitutional.