The ERLC has endorsed the Chloe Cole Act, named for the famed detransitioner Chloe Cole who has publicly shared of the horrors pushed upon her in her early teens. The bill, introduced by Sen. Blackburn (R-TN) and Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO-3), states that no healthcare professional, hospital, or clinic can participate in planning, authorizing, prescribing, administering, or performing chemical or surgical mutilation of a child. By seeking to regulate interstate commerce through evaluating the actions of the healthcare provider or entity, this bill states that the child cannot have:
- Traveled via interstate or foreign commerce.
- Used any means, facility, channel, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce.
- Made any payments through such manners.
- Communicated through interstate or foreign commerce.
These checks rightly place the burden on entities and providers, who are preying on the decisions of vulnerable young people who seek “gender transition” treatments.
Additionally, the bill would include substances, items, or instruments that have traveled through interstate or foreign commerce for the purpose of chemical or surgical mutilation of a child. This would fundamentally restrict the movement of drugs and surgical instruments used to perform these dangerous procedures on children.
The Chloe Cole Act would importantly establish a private right of action for the parents or child to bring a civil lawsuit for damages if they underwent a “gender transition.” With a statute of limitations expiring 25 years after the child turns 18 years old or 4 years after incurring detransition costs, this provision allows victims of this radical ideology to seek justice for the harms perpetrated against them.
ERLC Senior Policy Manager Katy Roberts shared about the bill’s introduction:
“Children are precious image-bearers, purposefully (Ps. 139:13-16) created as either male or female (Gen. 1:26-28), reflective of God’s good design. So-called “gender transition” interventions tamper with this design, jeopardizing the safety, dignity, and innocence of children in the process.
The Chloe Cole Act provides necessary pushback in a culture that has increasingly embraced radical gender ideology. By prohibiting these harmful procedures for minors and providing a strong framework to penalize implicated practitioners, this bill will protect kids from significant and often irreparable harm.”
Southern Baptists have called for our national leaders to enact laws that “recognize the biological reality of male and female” and “protect children’s innocence from sexual predation” (2025 resolution “On Restoring Moral Clarity through God’s Design for Gender, Marriage, and the Family“). Furthermore, Southern Baptists commended legislative bodies that have already taken action “to protect children from ‘gender transition’ interventions” (2023 resolution “On Opposing ‘Gender Transition’”).
Let us pray the Lord convicts the hearts of our elected officials and clears a way to advance impactful legislation that protects children from the dangers of gender ideology.
