NW Georgia News

U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is advocating for the Protect Children’s Innocence Act (H.R.8731), a legislation that seeks to limit gender identity changes among children. The bill, which underscores Greene's belief in the existence of only two sexes, male and female, aims to criminalize gender affirming care for minors.

Greene has made several statements emphasizing her stance on this issue. "There are only two sexes," she declared, adding, "Male and female." She further stated that convincing confused children they can change their gender or sex is one of the most egregious lies ever told to innocent individuals. "But cutting off their breast and genitals is even worse," said Greene.

According to H.R. 8731, the proposed law aims to prohibit gender affirming care for minors by criminalizing medical procedures and treatments related to gender transition. It outlines penalties for those providing such care to individuals under 18 years old, prohibits federal funding for gender affirming care, restricts health insurance coverage, and imposes deportation measures for non-U.S. nationals performing such care on minors. Exceptions are noted for specific medical scenarios and disorders affecting normal sex chromosome structure or hormone production.

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As per H.R. 8731, the bill also introduces provisions restricting the use of federal funds for gender affirming care and health benefits plans covering such care. It prohibits expenditure of federal funds for these procedures and limits the provision of gender affirming care in federal health care facilities by federal employees on federal or Tribal territories.

The bill includes several amendments related to prohibiting federally funded gender affirming care under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to H.R. 8731 again. It specifies disallowance of refundable credits and cost-sharing reductions for health plans covering gender affirming care while excluding such coverage from qualified health plans. Separate coverage can be purchased or offered provided no federal credits are applied and that it doesn't cover practices penalized under the bill. These prohibitions extend to multi-state qualified health plans offered in Exchanges and institutes a prohibition on offering instruction in gender affirming care by institutions of higher education. It also outlines immigration consequences for individuals providing gender affirming care to minors, rendering such actions as grounds for ineligibility for visas or admission and potential deportation for non-U.S. nationals.

In an August 2022 interview reported by The Hill, Greene referred to gender-affirming care as child abuse and assault. "This practice should never happen. It’s so disgusting and appalling … this needs to be illegal," she said. Under Greene's proposed bill, performing gender-affirming care on minors would constitute a class C felony, with severe penalties including imprisonment ranging from 10 to 25 years, along with a maximum fine of $250,000.