Ted Cruz Pushes Bill to Block Federal Funding for Gender Transition Research on Minors

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is continuing to combat what many Republicans view as radical left ideology by pushing a bill that would prohibit the use of federal funds for research or publications that promote gender affirming care for minors.

The Protecting Our Kids from Harmful Research Act was introduced this week by Sen. Cruz and several of his Republican colleagues. The bill would also codify President Donald Trump’s executive order from January 2025 restricting federal support for gender-affirming care for minors.

“The Protecting Our Kids from Harmful Research Act takes the long-overdue step of prohibiting federal dollars from supporting procedures that involve dangerous, life-altering and irreversible gender transition research on minors,” Sen. Cruz said.

This comes as a group of federal employees filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to remove coverage for certain transgender-related procedures from federal health insurance plans.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) is leading this effort to crack down on what he describes as the “child mutilation business,” which he said taxpayers should not be backing.

“Americans don’t want to pay millions for these disturbing studies where hundreds of kids are experimented on with puberty-blocking drugs,” Sen. Lee said. “President Trump rightly halted this attack on America’s kids.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) agreed that the legislation is about protecting both children and taxpayers.

“Taxpayers should not be spending a penny on research done by those who want to push harmful gender transition surgeries and radical gender ideology on our kids,” Sen. Blackburn said.

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) added that this debate is also about preserving religious freedom.

“God creates every child male or female in His perfect image,” Sen. Lankford said. “For too long, taxpayers have been forced to fund sex-rejecting studies on kids.”