Campus Reform | August 12, 2026

Original article can be viewed HERE

Sen. Tommy Tuberville joined Sen. Mike Lee on Aug. 3 in introducing the Protecting Our Kids from Harmful Research Act, which would prohibit federally funded research or publications supporting “gender-transition” interventions for minors when their perceived gender identity conflicts with their sex.

”Thousands of America’s children have fallen prey to the Radical Left’s woke gender ideology,” Sen. Tuberville said.

Supporters of the legislation have pointed to federally funded projects that they argue demonstrate why the bill is necessary.

A $428,296 grant awarded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to Seattle Children’s Hospital is one example of federally funded research that supporters say legislation would prohibit. The grant funded research led by Gina Sequeira, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle, aimed at improving access to “gender-affirming care” through telehealth for rural and BIPOC youth.

The bill is cosponsored by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz, Steve Daines, James Lankford, and Cynthia Lummis. In addition, Students for Life Action, the American Principles Project, and Independent Women have endorsed the bill.

This legislation aligns with President Trump’s January 2025 executive order affirming that “it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

Supporters say the Protecting Our Kids from Harmful Research Act advances President Trump’s family policy agenda by ending federal support for research involving gender-transition interventions for minors.

President Trump’s January 2025 executive order states that the federal government recognizes two sexes, male and female.

Sen. Lee’s office also cited research that it says supports the legislation.

A one-page summary released by Lee’s office states that gender-transition interventions intended to “affirm” a minor’s gender dysphoria have had life-altering consequences on more than 28,000 children who have undergone these treatments since 2019.

The summary estimates that more than 60,000 “sex-changing” prescriptions have been written to treat gender dysphoria in youths, stating that these treatments are rarely effective and, in reality, “often result in mental health crises and permanent physical damage.”

The one-page summary cites the American Psychiatric Association’s 2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in support of its claim that before the widespread use of transgender interventions, a majority of gender-dysphoric minors would no longer experience gender dysphoria by adulthood if their biological sex were affirmed.

Moreover, “as many as 88% of gender-dysphoric girls and as many as 98% of gender-dysphoric boys will desist if their biological integrity is affirmed.”

Campus Reform contacted Seattle Children’s Hospital, Gina Sequeira, and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health for comment. No responses were received before publication.