With the 2026 midterms in sight, one major question on Capitol Hill is if Republicans will vote on the Chloe Cole Act, a bill that seeks to end the chemical or surgical mutilation of children.
The legislation was introduced by Rep. Bob Onder, R-Mo., in September and is currently cosponsored by more than 30 Republicans in the House, and supported by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont. in the Senate.
Onder’s office referred The Daily Signal to the congressman’s September statement on the legislation. “As a member of Congress, a doctor, a parent, and an American, I am committed to protecting our nation’s children. That’s why I am proud to introduce the Chloe Cole Act, a landmark bill that will put a permanent stop to one of the most dangerous and barbaric medical procedures in modern history,” Onder said.
“This is a massive issue that played a huge role in the last election cycle,” Mary Frances Devlin of the American Principles Project told The Daily Signal. “It’s something that Republicans should act on so that they can run on it again in the midterm cycle.”
The legislation is named in honor of Chloe Cole, a former trans-identifying child who was put on puberty blockers and testosterone when she was just 13 and had a double mastectomy when she was 15. Now an adult, Cole publicly advocates against the practices that mutilated her as a child.
The bill comes as other legislative efforts to codify the Trump administration’s efforts to end these so-called treatments that harm minors.
While President Donald Trump has sought to end transgender procedures being used on minors through Executive Order 14187, an executive order signed in the first few weeks of his presidency, his executive action on the issue could be undone by a future president. The act aims to enshrine the Trump administration’s policy into federal law, and it was transmitted to Congress by the Department of Justice.
According to the bill, the legislation’s purpose is to “prohibit health care professionals, hospitals, or clinics from participating in the chemical or surgical mutilation of a child and 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 chemical and surgical mutilation.” The legislative proposal does provide exemptions to the prohibition for issues like the treatment of infections and traumatic bodily injuries. Notably, the private right of action would apply to procedures that occurred before the enactment of the act.
Putting the legislation up for a vote would test the Democratic Party’s commitment to protecting “transgender Americans’ access to health care and coverage, including medically necessary gender-affirming care,” as the 2024 Democratic Party platform positively framed the Biden administration’s policies.
“I think this would be a really good opportunity to see how [Democrats are] going to approach social issues as they look towards 2028 and kind of see where the base is, where they’re more extreme members, where they’re more moderates are in this issue,” Devlin said. “But also, it’s really important to be able to use this issue as an election issue in those Senate races.” She compared the vote to the one taken on protecting females in women’s sports at the beginning of this Congress.
“Obviously, it’s the right thing to do, but it also is incredibly useful to be able to target Democrats in narrow races for taking votes that the American people just absolutely are not on board with,” Devlin concluded.
The proposed legislation comes after prominent western European countries have reassessed and restricted their medical interventions on trans-identifying minors after review of the treatments. That list includes Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The German Medical Association, which is one of the highest-ranking medical bodies in Germany, has also called for the restricted use of medical interventions for minors with gender dysphoria.
