Republicans reintroduce bill to let minors who get transgender surgeries sue their doctors

Republicans on Wednesday reintroduced the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act that would provide protections for doctors who objected to performing gender-related surgeries and let individuals who received them while a minor sue their doctors.

Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks introduced the House legislation while Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton will introduce the Senate version. The lawmakers previously introduced the measure in June 2022, though it failed to gain sufficient traction to secure passage at the time.

"Performing irreversible surgery on a child too young to drive a car or get a tattoo is wrong. The quacks who enable this inexcusable practice must be held accountable," Banks said in a press release.

"Gender-transition procedures aren’t safe or appropriate for children," Cotton said. "Unfortunately, radical doctors in the United States perform dangerous, experimental, and even sterilizing gender-transition procedures on young kids, who cannot even provide informed consent."

"Our bill allows children who grow up to regret these procedures to sue for damages. Any doctor who performs these irresponsible procedures on kids should pay," he contended.

The measure would establish a private right of action for recipients of an array of gender-related treatments, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries, through which they may sue the doctor who performed them. The bill establishes a 30-year statute of limitation upon the individual reaching the age of majority. Guardians of the minor may also bring action against the medical practitioners under the legislation.

Moreover, the plan would clarify that federal law may not be used to force medical practitioners to conduct such treatments and would further bar the federal government from funding states that use their own laws to do so.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.