House lawmakers narrowly approved a bill Wednesday to criminalize transgender treatments such as surgeries and hormonal therapies on minors, with exceptions for rare medical conditions.
The Protect Children’s Innocence Act, which imposes penalties of fines and up to 10 years in prison against violators, cleared the lower chamber in a 216 to 211 vote.
“Protecting children is not optional, it’s our duty,” retiring firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) declared ahead of the vote.
“Children are not old enough to vote, drive, or get a tattoo and they are certainly not old enough to be chemically castrated or permanently mutilated,” she added. “This is common sense. This is good vs. evil.”
Under the law, doctors can be charged with a federal crime if they attempt to provide hormonal treatments or surgical interventions on children to make their gender differ from their biological sex.
