S. 312 — Jamie Reed Protecting Our Kids from Child Abuse Act

This section establishes civil liability for bodily injury or mental health harm caused by gender-transition procedures—defined to include specified puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgeries on minors (individuals under 18 years of age) to align the body with a gender identity at odds with biological sex (with exceptions for intersex conditions, treatment of procedure-related complications, or life-threatening physical disorders)—performed at or by entities affiliated with a pediatric gender clinic (i.e., a facility specializing in gender discordance or dysphoria diagnosis or treatment in minors). Liable parties include (1) the pediatric gender clinic; (2) medical practitioners at the clinic at the time of the procedure; (3) institutions of higher education (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1001), hospitals (as defined in 42 U.S.C. 1395x(e)), or medical practitioners that host, operate, partner with, fund, or are otherwise affiliated with the clinic or performed the procedure. An affected individual may bring a private right of action in federal or state court not later than 30 years after turning 18 years of age for compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorney's fees and costs. Performing entities or practitioners have an affirmative defense if they did not know and had no reason to know the individual was a minor.

This section prohibits federal funds from being made available (1) to a pediatric gender clinic; (2) to an institution of higher education or hospital that hosts, operates, partners with, provides funding to, or is otherwise affiliated with, a pediatric gender clinic; or (3) for any gender-transition procedure performed on a minor.

This section establishes a severability clause, providing that if any provision of the Act, or its application to any person or circumstance, is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act and its other provisions remain in effect.