Missouri congressman sponsors ‘Chloe Cole Act’ to end sex-change procedures on minors, provide aid  

Missouri U.S. Rep. Bob Onder is sponsoring the Chloe Cole Act, which would prohibit doctors from providing chemical or surgical sex-alterations on minors and provide help to families seeking damages from such procedures.

“It’s time to put an end to these barbaric chemical and surgical mutilations and empower the victims of these radical procedures,” Onder said in a post on X Sept. 18.

The bill would “prohibit physicians, clinics, and hospitals from participating in chemical or surgical mutilation of minors”; define sex as a “biological reality, not a political label”; allow victims and their families a private right of action for seeking civil damages; and “extend the statute of limitations” for pursuing justice and seeking recompense, up to decades after procedures.

Onder named the bill after public commentator Chloe Cole, who endured a double mastectomy at age 15 on the advice of medical professionals. By age 16, Cole deeply regretted the irreversible surgery and began speaking out against the harms of transgender ideology.

“Chloe is one of thousands of children misled by dangerous medical experimentation disguised as care,” the press release for the bill reads. “These children are sterilized, scarred, and left to carry the emotional and physical burden for a lifetime, while activists and practitioners get rich.”

Cole said the bill is important both to protect future children from harm and to help those who have been harmed.

“I’m so humbled by @RepBobOnder’s decision to name this extremely important bill after me,” Cole said in a post on X. “This bill will prevent further gender mutilation in The United States and also allow we detransitioners to achieve justice and hold our doctors, and institutions who failed us to account.”

Between 2019 and 2023, more than 14,000 children were prescribed puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones, and more than 5,700 were subjected to sex-change surgical procedures, according to Onder’s press release.

A 2022 study found 44% of females and 35% of males regretted losing their fertility, and 20% had changed their gender identity again.

This research came on the heels of an apparently rigged study claiming sex-change procedures decrease suicidality and gender dysphoria, according to the press release. That study failed to report unsuccessful results and even a death from the procedures, the release says.

Furthermore, research shows puberty blockers weaken adolescents’ bones, often leading to the early onset of osteoporosis. Cross-sex hormones can leave youth infertile for life and increase risks of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, according to the release.

“Puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and surgical procedures left me with lasting damage when I was still a child,” Cole said in a statement. “The damage done to my body is in many ways irreparable, and seeking restoration has been nearly impossible. Physicians who engage in chemical or surgical mutilation of children must face consequences.”

Onder said in an interview with One America News that sex-change procedures prey upon young children struggling with depression or mental illness during key years of puberty development. As a doctor and father, he said he is “committed to protecting our nation’s children.”

The bill follows President Trump’s executive order “Protecting America’s Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” The order directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to work with Congress in drafting legislation that would “end child-abuse practices” in every state and aid parents and children in seeking recompense.

“The Department of Justice has heard from far too many families who have been devastated by mutilative medical procedures that fly in the face of basic biology,” Bondi said.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, is sponsoring the Chloe Cole Act in the Senate, co-sponsored by Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt, Florida Sen. Rick Scott and Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy.

“No child should be pushed into irreversible chemical and surgical mutilation under the guise of so-called ‘gender-affirming care,’” Blackburn said. “The Chloe Cole Act would put a stop to this barbaric abuse of children and give those who have suffered the consequences of these harmful procedures the chance to fight back.”

The press release notes that many European countries have outlawed such practices due to the lack of accurate scientific studies and the clear harm caused.

“These practices aren’t medicine, they’re exploitation. They are rooted in political ideology, not science,” Onder said in his statement. “No parent should be told they must choose between ‘affirming’ dangerous treatments or losing custody. And no doctor should escape accountability for permanently mutilating a healthy child.”

He said these irreversible procedures falsely claim the title of “gender-affirming care,” but in reality mutilate children’s healthy bodies.

“This bill is simple: protect children, punish abusers, and ensure that victims can seek justice,” Onder said. “The Chloe Cole Act will end these horrific experiments on children and hold those profiting from the transgender industrial complex accountable.”