Federal law changes what counts as child abuse to protect parents.
S. 5593 — Yaeli Martinez Child Protection Act · Filed by Eric Schmitt (R-MO) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Sep 29, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill changes the federal meaning of child abuse and neglect. It stops the government from using federal money for certain medical care for kids. It stops the government from looking into parents who refuse this care. Parents can now sue state child-welfare offices in federal court. They can sue if a child was removed because of gender. They can also sue if removed because the parent refused medical care.
Who it affects
The bill affects parents and children in child-welfare cases. It affects state child-welfare offices and their workers. It changes what federal money can pay for.
One thing to notice
The bill makes it harder for child-welfare workers to look into cases about gender. The state must prove removal was for other reasons. Workers can be sued and must pay money to parents.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Sep 29, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 29, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- child-welfare offices — Government offices that protect kids from abuse and neglect.
- federal money — Money the federal government gives to states and programs.
- sue — To take someone to court and ask a judge for money.
- gender — Whether someone is a boy, girl, or neither.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (50,094 characters) on Oct 16, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Federal law changes what counts as child abuse to protect parents.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s5593/simple Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.