February 23, 2026
Mr. Onder (for himself and Mr. Kennedy of Utah) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
To provide a private right of action for children and the parents of children whose healthy body parts have been damaged by medical professionals practicing or participating in certain interventions.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Chloe Cole Act of 2026
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Sec. 2. Definitions
In this Act:
(1) Child
The term child
means an individual under 18 years of age.
(2) Covered interventions
(A) In general
(i) Interventions
The term covered intervention
means providing any of the items and services described in clause (ii) for the purpose of—
(I)
intentionally delaying, halting, or disrupting the natural development of the individual’s body, including the onset or progression of puberty, so that it does not develop or halts developing to correspond to the individual’s sex; or
(II)
intentionally changing the individual’s body, including the individual’s external appearance or biological functions, to no longer correspond to the individual’s sex.
(ii) Items and services
The items and services described in this clause are—
(I)
the use of puberty blockers, including gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists and antagonists;
(II)
the use of sex hormones, such as androgen blockers, estrogen, anti-estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, or dihydrotestosterone blockers; and
(III)
surgical procedures that attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance or that attempt to alter or remove an individual’s sexual organs.
(B) Exclusions
The term covered intervention
does not include any of the following:
(i)
Appropriate and medically necessary procedures to treat a verifiable disorder of sexual development, including an individual born with 46 XX chromosomes with virilization, with 46 XY chromosomes with undervirilization, or having both ovarian and testicular tissue.
(ii)
The treatment of any infection, injury, disease, or disorder that has been caused or exacerbated by the performance of an intervention described in subparagraph (A) without regard to whether the intervention was performed in accordance with State or Federal law or whether the intervention is covered by the private right of action under section 4.
(iii)
Any intervention undertaken because the individual suffers from any diagnosed and verifiable condition of the body’s organ systems, including the following:
(I)
Traumatic bodily injuries (such as fractures, organ rupture, or penetrating trauma).
(II)
Congenital structural anomalies of major organs or systems, including the cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, hepatic, neurological, or musculoskeletal systems.
(III)
Acute illnesses with a high probability of rapid mortality.
(3) Detransition treatment
The term detransition treatment
means any treatment, medical intervention, or surgery, that stops, reverses the effects of, or aids in the recovery from the effects of, a prior covered intervention.
(4) Health care professional
The term health care professional
means an individual 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 his or her profession or performing such acts which require such licensure.
(5) Participate
The term participate
, with respect to acts constituting a covered intervention as defined in paragraph (1), means directly engaging in the planning, authorization, prescription, administration, or performance of any such act, including any of the following:
(A)
Prescribing puberty blockers, sex hormones, or related medications with the intent to delay, halt, or interrupt an individual’s puberty or to alter an individual’s physical appearance or reproductive function to align with an identity differing from his or her sex.
(B)
Administering medications or treatments described in subparagraph (A) with such intent, whether by injection, oral delivery, or other means.
(C)
Performing surgical procedures that attempt to transform an individual’s appearance to no longer correspond to the individual’s sex as part of a covered intervention.
(D)
Authorizing or directing such covered intervention as a supervising health care professional or institutional representative.
(E)
Knowingly planning or coordinating the provision of treatments or procedures described above in subparagraph (A), (C), or (D) with the intent to facilitate a covered intervention.
(6) Sex
The term sex
means a person’s immutable biological classification, determined at the moment of conception, as either male or female, as follows:
(A)
The term female
is a person who naturally has, had, will have, or would have but for a congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the reproductive system that produces, transports, and utilizes the large gamete (ova) for fertilization.
(B)
The term male
is a person who naturally has, had, will have, or would have but for a congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the reproductive system that produces, transports, and utilizes the small gamete (sperm) for fertilization.
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Sec. 3. Private right of action
(a) In general
An individual subjected as a child to a covered intervention, or the parents or legal guardians of such individual, may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court of the United States for damages against any health care professional, hospital, or clinic who participates in the covered intervention on that child. Such a cause of action shall be available regardless of whether the alleged covered intervention occurred before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Damages
Damages available pursuant to such an action may include—
(1)
compensatory damages, including all economic damages associated with undoing, correcting, or ameliorating the effects or results of any covered intervention;
(2)
non-economic damages for emotional distress and pain and suffering; and
(3)
punitive damages, if the claimant proves by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant against whom punitive damages are sought acted maliciously, intentionally, fraudulently, or recklessly.
(c) Strict liability
Any health care professional, hospital, or clinic whose participation in a covered intervention on a child after the date of enactment of this Act is proven by clear and convincing evidence shall be strictly liable for damages for any such intervention. If a treatment qualifies under an exception specified in clauses (i) through (iii) of section 2(2)(B), and that is raised as an affirmative defense to a violation of this Act, the health care professional, hospital, or clinic shall bear the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that such exception applies.
(d) Circumstances described
The circumstances described in this subsection are that—
(1)
the defendant or child traveled in interstate or foreign commerce, or traveled using a means, channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce, in furtherance of or in connection with the participation in the covered intervention;
(2)
the defendant used a means, channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in furtherance of or in connection with the participation in the covered intervention;
(3)
any payment of any kind was made, directly or indirectly, in furtherance of or in connection with the participation in the covered intervention using any means, channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce;
(4)
the defendant transmitted in interstate or foreign commerce any communication relating to or in furtherance of the participation in the covered intervention using any means, channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce by any means or in any manner, including by computer, mail, wire, or electromagnetic transmission;
(5)
any instrument, item, substance, or other object that has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce was used to perform the covered intervention;
(6)
the covered intervention occurred within the District of Columbia, the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or any territory or possession of the United States; or
(7)
the covered intervention otherwise occurred in or affected interstate or foreign commerce.
Sec. 4. Rules of construction
(a) No waiver
No liability for a health care professional under these provisions may be waived.
(b) Ambiguities
Any ambiguities shall be resolved against any party found to have engaged in participation in a covered intervention on a child.
(c) Standards of care
In any cases in which a covered intervention on a child is shown to have occurred before the date of enactment of this Act, there is limited deference to prevailing standards of care to the extent that such standards contradict the intent of this Act and it is shown that the health care professional knew or should have known that such standards of care were in serious, scientific, and medical dispute at the time of the covered intervention.
(d) Provision of information
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit a health care professional from providing information about all available treatment options, discussing risks and benefits, or expressing professional medical opinions, so long as such actions do not constitute participation in a covered intervention.
Sec. 5. Statute of limitations
An action under section 3 may be brought within 25 years from the date of the eighteenth birthday of an individual subjected to a covered intervention as a child or within 4 years from the time the cost of a detransition treatment is incurred, whichever date is later.
Sec. 6. Severability
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such a provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, and the application of the provision to any other person or circumstance, shall not be affected.