WeVote
Log In

Bill

Bill

SF 5247

Protecting Families and Children Act Establishment

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Glenn Gruenhagen and 4 co-sponsors

Prohibits gender transition procedures for minors and bars public funding for such care, while expanding parental rights and school restrictions to control minors’ healthcare, educ

Referred to Judiciary and Public Safety
#childrenandfamiliesandchildren #youthandfamiliesdepartment #crimesandcriminals #healthandhealthdepartment #publicsafetyandpublicsafetydepartment #transgender
0
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · SF 5247

Summary of SF 5247 (Protecting Families and Children Act) – Minnesota, 2025-2026

Note: This summary reflects the introduced text as of 04/21/2026 and the bill’s stated provisions across its articles and sections.

1) Purpose and intent

  • The bill is titled the Protecting Families and Children Act (PFCA).
  • Core aims:
    • Safeguard minors’ health, bodily integrity, fertility, and future procreative capacity.
    • Establish a parental bill of rights, school transparency, and protections against sexualization of minors.
    • Prohibit gender transition procedures for minors and restrict public funding/coverage for such procedures.
    • Create new legal remedies and enforceable standards to deter coercive or deceptive practices in health care, education, and related institutions.
    • Restore home-state jurisdiction in certain custody and protection matters and roll back sanctuary-related provisions.
  • The bill emphasizes a binary definition of biological sex, with policies intended to protect privacy and safety tied to that definition.
  • It frames parental rights as fundamental and seeks to limit or govern various aspects of minor healthcare, education, and school operations.

2) Key provisions and changes

A. Health care protections for minors (Article 2)

  • Prohibition on gender transition procedures for minors:
    • Healthcare providers must not perform or refer minors for gender transition procedures.
    • Public funds and health plans regulated by the state must not cover gender transition procedures for minors.
  • Exceptions:
    • Treatments for medically verifiable disorders of sex development, precocious puberty not used for transition, and certain procedures to treat injuries or conditions restoring typical function by biological sex.
  • Counseling:
    • Psychological or psychiatric counseling not recommending prohibited procedures remains permissible.
  • Enforcement and penalties:
    • Licensing boards may discipline violations; the Attorney General and county attorneys may seek injunctions and civil penalties up to $25,000 per violation.
    • Private right of action: a minor who received a prohibited gender transition procedure can sue after turning 18 for lifetime medical costs and damages; caps apply when multiple claimants are involved.
    • Criminal penalties for providers and administrators involved in prohibited procedures.

B. Education, school transparency, and parental rights (Article 3)

  • Sex-based facilities and interscholastic athletics:
    • Sex-segregated bathrooms, locker rooms, and overnight accommodations must be based on biological sex.
    • Inter-scholastic athletic participation determined by biological sex.
  • Social transition prohibition in schools:
    • Schools and staff cannot implement social transitions (e.g., changing names/pronouns inconsistent with legal records) without consent.
    • Parents have the right to access all educational and counseling records related to their child.
    • Schools must promptly notify parents of significant changes in a student’s health or distress indicators.
    • Speech policies: schools cannot compel staff or students to adopt policies on sex/gender that violate religious or moral convictions; use of terms consistent with the student’s biological sex is required.
  • Curriculum transparency and opt-out:
    • Schools must post online, at least 14 days in advance, instructional materials concerning human sexuality.
    • No sexually explicit instruction in classrooms, online, or in writing.
    • Instruction on biological reproduction or birth control must not occur before grade 7 (age ~12).
    • Gender ideology, gender identity, and sexual orientation instruction governed separately and can be opted out by parents.
  • Parental Bill of Rights; private remedy:
    • Explicit acknowledgment of parental rights to direct upbringing, education, medical care, and moral formation.
    • Civil remedy available for knowing violations of the specified sections (injunctive relief and attorney fees).

C. Prohibition on sexualization of minors in education (Article 4)

  • Prohibited content:
    • Instruction or materials that promote non-biological concepts of gender identity, sexual activity, or sexual orientation in K-12 settings.
    • Strong prohibition on classroom instruction, assemblies, counseling, or materials that describe sexual practices or discuss sexual acts.
  • Prohibitions apply to all classroom formats and school-sponsored content, with opt-out mechanisms limited to reproduction/birth control content as described.
  • Religious schools: narrow savings clause preserves certain doctrinal teachings but clarifies limits to exemptions regarding prohibited content.

D. Therapeutic choice and abusive practices (Article 5)

  • Protections for client-directed counseling:
    • Licensing boards must not discipline licensees solely for non-coercive, client-directed counseling that aligns with the client’s goals, including exploration and religiously informed contexts.
  • Prohibited practices:
    • Prohibits coercive, fraudulent, or aversive practices in therapy.

E. Grooming and criminal offenses (Article 6)

  • New criminal offense: grooming of a minor for sexual exploitation.
    • Applies to patterns of conduct directed at a minor or the minor’s guardian, including online engagement, distribution of explicit material, arranging meetings, or exploiting trust.
    • Penalties structured by offense severity (base, aggravated, and severe), up to 30 years imprisonment or $60,000 fines for severe offenses, with various modifiers (age, position of trust, travel, etc.).
  • Predatory offender registration:
    • Expands or adds requirements for registration in connection with grooming offenses.

F. Home-state jurisdiction and sanctuary provisions (Article 7)

  • Restores home-state jurisdiction in certain child custody determinations.
  • Allows emergency and temporary orders to be recognized, but prioritizes jurisdictional factors that favor the child’s home state and limits sanctuary-type provisions.
  • Civil and enforcement provisions align with the reestablished home-state framework.
  • Repeals certain sanctuary provisions and repeals related statutes (260.925 and 543.23) as part of a broader shift.

G. Repeals and amendments (Articles 7-8; Appendix)

  • Repeals several existing statutes (e.g., 214.078 on “conversion therapy”) and related enforcement mechanisms, replacing them with the PFCA framework.
  • Revisions to cross-references and alignment across criminal codes (609, 617) to reflect new definitions and penalties.
  • Effective date: 90 days after final enactment.

3) Who and what would be affected

  • Minors: direct impact on health care options, gender transition procedures, and counseling related to gender identity.
  • Parents/guardians: enhanced rights to access school records and to direct upbringing and medical decisions; ability to bring civil actions for certain violations; potential whistleblower protections and rewards.
  • Schools and school employees: new prohibitions on social transitions, requirements for parental access to records, mandatory reporting, and compliance duties with substantial penalties for non-compliance.
  • Health care providers and facilities: restrictions on gender transition procedures for minors; penalties for violations; enhanced liability for institutions involved in such procedures.
  • Licensing boards and educational administrators: new enforcement duties, potential disciplinary actions, and mandatory reporting obligations.
  • Courts and custody determinations: changes to jurisdictional rules and emergency procedures, prioritizing home-state jurisdiction.

4) Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Status: Referred to Judiciary and Public Safety (April 29, 2026).
  • Effective date: 90 days after final enactment.
  • Enforcement mechanisms:
    • State AG and county attorneys can pursue injunctions, criminal prosecutions, and civil penalties up to $25,000 per violation.
    • Private right of action for certain minors/parents after the minor reaches 18, including lifetime health care cost awards and damages.
    • Institutional penalties for schools (civil penalties, potential funding losses) and whistleblower protections with a 30% recovery share for successful reports.
  • Privacy and records: strict access and record-keeping requirements for school staff; mandatory signed acknowledgments of prohibitions and reporting duties.
  • Appeals and defenses: includes a good-faith defense for teachers and administrators under specific conditions; detailed safe harbors and exemptions in the religious context.

If you’d like, I can provide a side-by-side comparison with current Minnesota statutes to highlight exact changes, or distill a one-page briefing for stakeholders.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

Sign in to ask a question.