H.R. 4618

119th CONGRESS 1st Session

To establish a Federal tort against pediatric gender clinics and other entities pushing gender-transition procedures that cause bodily injury to children or harm the mental health of children.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES · July 22, 2025 · Sponsor: Mr. Steube

Table of contents

• H.R. 4618
  • SEC. 1. Short title
  • SEC. 2. Federal tort for harm to children caused by gender-transition procedures
  • SEC. 3. Prohibition on funding
  • SEC. 4. Effective date and retroactive application
  • SEC. 5. Severability

SEC. 1. Short title

• This Act may be cited as the Jamie Reed Protecting Our Kids from Child Abuse Act.

SEC. 2. Federal tort for harm to children caused by gender-transition procedures

• (a) Definitions
  • In this section:
    • The term hospital has the meaning given such term in section 1861(e) of the Social Security Act (). 42 U.S.C. 1395x(e)
    • The term institution of higher education has the meaning given such term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (). 20 U.S.C. 1001
    • The term medical 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.
    • The term minor means an individual who has not yet reached 18 years of age.
    • The term pediatric gender clinic means a medical facility that specializes in the diagnosis or treatment of gender discordance and gender dysphoria in minors, including medical interventions such as therapeutic diagnosis of gender dysphoria and performance of (or referral for) gender-transition procedures on minors.
• (b) Liability
  • The following individuals and entities shall be liable in accordance with this section to any individual who suffers bodily injury or harm to mental health (including any physical, psychological, emotional, or physiological harm) that is attributable, in whole or in part, to a gender-transition procedure performed on the individual when the individual was a minor:
    • A pediatric gender clinic where the gender-transition procedure was provided.
    • Any medical practitioner who administered health care, at the time of the particular procedure, at the pediatric gender clinic where the gender-transition procedure was provided.
    • An institution of higher education that hosts, operates, partners with, provides funding to, or is otherwise affiliated with the pediatric gender clinic where the gender-transition procedure was provided.
    • A hospital that hosts, operates, partners with, provides funding to, or is otherwise affiliated with the pediatric gender clinic where the gender-transition procedure was provided.
    • Any medical practitioner who performed the gender-transition procedure on the individual.
• (c) Private right of action
  • An individual who suffers bodily injury or harm to mental health that is attributable, in whole or in part, to a gender-transition procedure provided to the individual when the individual was a minor may, not later than 30 years after the date on which the individual turns 18 years of age, bring a civil action against an individual or entity described in subsection (b), in an appropriate district court of the United States or a State court of competent jurisdiction for—
    • compensatory damages;
    • punitive damages; and
    • attorney’s fees and costs.
• (d) Affirmative defense
  • It shall be an affirmative defense to an action brought by or on behalf of an individual upon whom a gender-transition procedure was performed under subsection (c) that the pediatric gender clinic or medical practitioner who performed the gender-transition procedure on the individual, at all relevant times, did not know and had no reason to know that the individual in question was a minor.

SEC. 3. Prohibition on funding

• No Federal funds may be made available—
  • to a pediatric gender clinic;
  • to an institution of higher education or hospital that hosts, operates, partners with, provides funding to, or is otherwise affiliated with, a pediatric gender clinic; or
  • for any gender-transition procedure performed on a minor.

SEC. 4. Effective date and retroactive application

• This Act shall—
  • take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and
  • apply to any gender-transition procedure that took place before, on, or after the effective date under paragraph (1).

SEC. 5. Severability

• If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, and the application of the remaining provisions of this Act, to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected.