Two GOP Senators have introduced a bill meant to protect prospective adoptive and foster parents from having to transition children to their gender identity. Republican Sens. Jim Banks of Indiana and Tom Cotton of Arkansas introduced the SAFE Home Act, which strips any states of federal funding if they discriminate against “parents or guardians who oppose medical, surgical, pharmacological, psychological treatment, or clothing and social changes related to affirming the subjective claims of gender identity expressed by any minor.” The bill allows any prospective parents to sue the Department of Health and Human Services if they perceive they are the subject of such discrimination.

Banks said such states are overreaching their authority. “The government has no business punishing parents for protecting their kids from radical gender ideology. My bill ensures that states respecting parental rights aren’t strong-armed into embracing dangerous social experiments,” he said. Cotton stated that the bill would protect parental rights. “If you don’t let your kid ‘transition’ to the opposite sex, certain state governments will help remove them from your custody. It sounds like dystopian science fiction, but it’s happening in the United States of America. Our bill would take funding away from states that abuse their power by taking away parents’ rights simply for opposing radical gender experiments,” he said. The bill was originally presented in 2023 during the Biden administration but failed to pass.

It’s another push from the GOP against transgender ideology during the Trump administration, which has defined men and women by their biological sex, prohibited biological men from playing in women’s sports, and limited medical transitions for people under 19. The bill would also protect families like Mike and Kitty Burke, who stated they were blocked from being foster parents in Massachusetts due to their religious beliefs. A reviewer for their license state that the Burkes, who support biological sex, had religious beliefs that were “not supportive.” The Burkes sued the state for discrimination.

Speaking to Fox News, Banks called the bill “common sense.” “Kids deserve safe, loving homes and parents shouldn’t be blocked from adopting or fostering just because they oppose irreversible sex-change procedures on children. This bill makes sure families aren’t punished for using common sense,” he said. House Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, who also introduced the bill, echoed Banks’s words. “We must defend the rights of parents to raise their children in a way that reflects reality and safeguards their future,” she stressed. “The SAFE Home Act ensures that parents are not excluded from adopting simply for having common sense and standing against dangerous gender ideologies that threaten the well-being of children.”