Congress and HHS Take Action to Protect Children from Sex-Rejecting Procedures
This week marks significant momentum in federal efforts to protect children from medical experimentation.
Yesterday, the US House of Representatives passed HR3492, known as the Protect Children’s Innocence Act, prohibiting chemical castration and surgical sex-rejecting procedures on minors, and today, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new steps to restrict federal involvement in these dangerous practices.
Together, these actions demonstrate growing recognition that children should not be subjected to experimental, life-altering medical interventions driven by ideology rather than sound science.
US House Votes to Prohibit Chemical Castration and Sex-Rejecting Surgeries on Minors
Yesterday, the US House voted 216–211 to pass HR3492, which would make it illegal for medical professionals to perform or attempt to perform chemical or surgical procedures on minors for the purpose of rejecting or altering their biological sex.
The bill holds adult decision-makers and medical institutions accountable, while explicitly protecting children from criminal liability.
Though the bill faces challenges in the US Senate, the US House vote itself is a watershed moment. At least half of the House is no longer willing to treat the chemical sterilization and surgical mutilation of children as “settled medicine,” but it is still concerning that four Republicans and 207 Democrats opposed the bill.
These procedures permanently damage healthy organs, sterilize patients, impair sexual function, and lock children into lifelong medical dependence, often before they are legally old enough to consent to a tattoo.
HHS Announces Restrictions on Federal Support for Sex-Rejecting Procedures
Today, HHS announced steps to curb federal funding and involvement in sex-rejecting medical procedures for minors.
According to the announcement, HHS will:
Move to bar hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid from performing sex-rejecting procedures on children
Reevaluate federal healthcare guidance that has treated these interventions as standard care despite the lack of reliable evidence
Prioritize non-invasive, evidence-based mental health care over irreversible physical interventions
HHS cited serious concerns about the lack of long-term evidence supporting these procedures and the growing risk of medical malpractice, regret, and harm.
This marks a decisive break from prior federal policy, which adopted activist language while ignoring mounting evidence—including international reviews—that these interventions fail to meet basic medical standards.
Building on January’s Executive Order
Today’s actions are the natural continuation of President Trump’s January executive order directing federal agencies to eliminate support for chemical and surgical sex-rejecting procedures on minors.
That order acknowledged what many parents and physicians have long known: children experiencing confusion or distress deserve care, not castration or mutilation.
Today’s HHS action represents the beginning of real enforcement. You can watch the full press conference here.
Ohio Has Already Led the Way
Ohio has already shown what principled leadership looks like.
Earlier this year, the Ohio Supreme Court allowed the SAFE Act, which protects minors from chemical castration and sex-rejecting surgeries, to go back into effect. That decision reaffirmed the state’s authority to protect children from experimental medical practices and rejected the idea that ideology overrides child welfare.
CCV played a key role in defending that law and advocating for policies grounded in biological reality, parental rights, and the inherent dignity of every child.
CCV also recently filed an amicus brief with the Ohio Supreme Court in Moe v. Yost, urging the Court to uphold Ohio’s Saving Ohio Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act. The filing emphasizes that Ohio’s Constitution grants the General Assembly the authority—and indeed the responsibility—to protect children from dangerous and ideologically driven medical experiments.
What happened today in Washington mirrors what Ohio has already done to draw a clear moral and legal line to protect children.
The question is no longer whether sex-rejecting procedures on children deserve scrutiny. The question is how quickly lawmakers and regulators will act to stop them.
CCV will continue working at the state and federal levels to defend children, empower parents, and ensure public policy reflects truth and compassion.
For more information, contact CCV at 513-733-5775 or contact@ccv.org. For media inquiries, email media@ccv.org.
As Ohio's largest Christian public policy organization, Center for Christian Virtue seeks the good of our neighbors by advocating for public policy that reflects the truth of the Gospel.
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