Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has introduced legislation seeking to criminalize gender-affirming medical care to transgender minors.
The “Protect Children’s Innocence Act” bans puberty blockers, hormone therapy and certain kinds of surgeries done “for the purpose of changing the body of such individual to correspond to a sex that differs from their biological sex,” The Hill reports.
Greene’s bill would also block federal funding for any gender-affirming care, ban colleges from teaching gender-affirming treatments and prevent any foreign nationals who provide the care from entering the country.
Under the proposed bill, anyone who “knowingly performs any gender-affirming care on a minor” is guilty of a class C felony, punishable by up to 25 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
The bill has 14 cosponsors so far: Reps. Mary Miller (Ill.), Jeff Duncan (S.C.), Bob Good (Va.), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Tony Gonzales (Texas), Rep. Diana Harshbarger (Tenn.), Clay Higgins (La.), Burgess Owens (Utah), Claudia Tenney (N.Y.), Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Lance Gooden (Texas), Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Paul Gosar (AZ).
Greene said GOP Senate candidates JD Vance in Ohio and Blake Masters of Arizona pledged to support the bill if they get elected in the midterms.
Greene announced the bill during an appearance on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight on Thursday.
“I find this absolutely appalling, Tucker,” Greene said. “When it comes to gender-affirming care, which is really child abuse, this is actually an assault and it’s child abuse. And this practice should never happen, it’s so disgusting and appalling… gender-affirming care is… genital mutilation.”
“This needs to be illegal and I’m introducing a bill called Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” she added. “It would create a law that would cause it to be a class C felony for any person involved in so-called gender-affirming care… anything involving any youth under the age of 18.”
Carlson threw his support behind the bill saying doctors who provide gender-affirming care should “go to prison” and that he expects every Republican to vote for the bill.
