U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R – Ohio) has introduced the so-called “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” a piece of legislation riddled with lies about transgender healthcare. The act includes an array of far-right, anti-transgender buzzwords and “bans” a variety of medical procedures, none of which are a part of transgender healthcare for minors.
The act, if passed, carries a Class C felony penalty (punishable by 3.5 to 15 years in prison) for these imagined procedures. “Under no circumstances should doctors be allowed to perform these gruesome, irreversible operations on underage children,” said Senator Vance, who is not a medical professional.
The act also seeks to ban all taxpayer funding for such actions (citing the Affordable Care Act), and would “prohibit institutions of higher education from providing instruction on ‘gender-affirming care,’ and would deem aliens who have performed ‘gender-affirming care’ on a minor ineligible to receive visas or admittance to the United States.”
Vance did not cite any instances in which such imagined procedures have taken place, cite any statistics on such procedures, nor refer to any research on transgender healthcare. The proposed legislation offers a limited and inaccurate definition of “biological sex” that ignores the existence of intersex people, and seeks to ban a variety of procedures commonly performed on cisgender people, including plastic surgery and hormone therapies.
Health care for transgender people and youth is mainstream medical care supported by every major medical association and leading world health authority. On June 12, 2023, The American Medical Association passed a resolution drafted by The Endocrine Society to protect access to evidence-based gender-affirming care for transgender and gender-diverse youth, noting “it is the responsibility of the medical community to speak out in support of evidence-based care. Medical decisions should be made by patients, their relatives and health care providers, not politicians.” At least 30 leading professional medical associations have issued statements supporting health care for transgender people and youth. The full list of resolution cosponsors and medical associations supporting transgender healthcare can be found here.
Vance has a history of anti-LGBTQ statements and actions, and details can be found at the GLAAD Accountability Project.
Vance went on to praise Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R – Georgia), who in her short time in office has compiled a long record of harmful rhetoric and policies against LGBTQ people, and who has proposed companion legislation in the House. Greene was removed from committees in her first term in Congress for advocating violence and elevating conspiracy theories against her colleagues. More details on Greene’s record can be found here.
Vance also defended Greene’s appearance at a white supremacist conference with host Nick Fuentes, who has spread racist, anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theories, claiming “she did nothing wrong.”