WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement after his Stop Funding Genital Mutilation Act, a bill that would prohibit federal funding from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) from going towards gender transition procedures at any age, was included in the Senate Finance Committee’s legislative text for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act:

“No American taxpayer should have to fund radical gender transition surgeries, and I am proud that my bill to prohibit federal dollars from funding these dangerous procedures has been included in the Senate’s One Big Beautiful Bill,” said Sen. Cornyn. “I will continue to fight alongside President Trump to protect our most vulnerable and ensure taxpayer dollars are no longer used to advance the far left’s woke agenda.”

Background:

A recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) review of gender dysphoria medical interventions “highlights a growing body of evidence pointing to significant risks—including irreversible harms such as infertility—while finding very weak evidence of benefit.”

Nearly 30 states have laws or policies that limit access to gender transition procedures for minors, including Texas. Texas prohibits health care providers from prescribing, administering or dispensing hormone or puberty blocking medications or providing gender transition surgeries to minors. Other countries have begun putting limits on these procedures over concerns about the long-term effects. In 2024, NHS England began limiting access to puberty blockers as “routine treatment” for children under 18. Finland, Sweden, and Denmark have also limited access to these procedures for minors.

The Stop Funding Genital Mutilation Act, which was cosponsored by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), would prohibit CHIP and Medicaid federal funds from being used to provide gender transition procedures at any age. It makes exceptions for those needing puberty blocking drugs or medical procedures for medically necessary reasons, including medically verifiable sex development disorders or injury from previous gender transition procedures.

This bill builds on President Trump’s Executive Order, signed on January 28, 2025, which called for cutting federal funding for gender transition procedures for minors and directs federally run insurance programs, including Medicaid, to stop covering these services.

The legislation aligns with language included in the House’s version of Pres. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.