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What a powerful answer to prayer, and thank you to IFA’s warrior intercessors who prayed so mightily for this righteous outcome.
Pray for your fellow intercessor.
On Tuesday, March 31, the Supreme Court justices overwhelmingly decided 8-1 in Chiles v. Salazar against Colorado’s ban on what the Left calls “conversion therapy.”
This is a huge win for all Americans in upholding free speech, but especially for Christians and conservatives who are too often persecuted and silenced by blue states, the legacy media, and the Left for our choosing to stand in biblical and moral truth.
The case is Chiles v Salazar, a free speech challenge under the First Amendment, brought by a licensed Christian therapist, Kaley Chiles. She asked the court to overturn Colorado’s law banning licensed therapists and other health professionals from helping LGBTQ+ patients under 18 overcome their homosexual and transgender confusion.
Free Speech or Medical Treatment?
Under the Colorado ban, Ms. Chiles was allowed to express acceptance and support in therapy sessions with minor patients confused by their sexual orientation or gender identity. But the law forbade her from engaging in talk therapy, exploring her patients’ underlying reasons or trauma that may have led to their sexual confusion or same-sex attraction. The law also forbade her from engaging in any effort to change sexual orientation or gender identity.
Colorado argued that states have the right to regulate medical treatment, and talk therapy is different from speech since it is a form of health care. Colorado claimed that since sexual orientation and gender identity are irreversible facts, the state could legally regulate talk therapy as medical treatment and ban therapists from trying to “convert” minors from being gay or trans.
Ms. Chiles argued that the ban violated her rights to free speech under the First Amendment. The law, she said, wrongly banned her from offering ‘voluntary, faith-based therapy for kids.’ “I should be listening to my clients rather than steering them toward a state-ordained conclusion,” she said.
A Decisive Ruling
In a near-unanimous ruling, except for the Biden-appointed Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson, who dissented, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment prohibits states from using their licensing power to prevent therapists and other professionals from discussing viewpoints different from the state’s.
The Supreme Court held, “Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy, as applied to Ms. Chiles’s talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint, and the lower courts erred by failing to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny.’
Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the Court’s majority opinion, affirmed…
“A law regulating the content of speech cannot avoid searching First Amendment review just because it mostly regulates non-expressive conduct… As applied to Ms. Chiles, Colorado’s law regulates the content of her speech and goes further to prescribe what views she may and may not express, discriminating on the basis of viewpoint. The law censors speech based on viewpoint.”
“The First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country,” Justice Gorsuch wrote. “It reflects instead a judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for discovering truth. However well-intentioned, any law that suppresses speech based on viewpoint represents an “egregious” assault on both of those commitments.
At a news conference after the decision was made public. Ms. Chiles stated…
“The law I’m challenging harms kids and silences speech. Kids deserve real help, affirming that their bodies are not a mistake, and that they are wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) I’m grateful that my speech is protected. I am thrilled that the ruling will help struggling kids and families who are seeking professional guidance consistent with biological reality.” The ruling would preserve more options for families, she added.
Jim Campbell of Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented Ms. Chiles, called the 8-1 decision a major affirmation of free speech. “It is a condemnation of viewpoint discrimination, and it is a recognition that counselors must be free to have voluntary conversations with clients who are seeking their help,” he said.
What’s Next
Many news outlets are reporting that the Supreme Court struck down the ban or declared the ban unconstitutional. But that is not what happened.
Instead, the Court – in legal jargon – reversed the decision of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and remanded the case back to the U.S. District Court of Colorado. The Supreme Court declared the lower courts had failed to apply the stricter First Amendment scrutiny, which should result in the lower court striking down the law.
That’s because the Supreme Court, in its majority opinion, strongly indicated that Colorado’s ban, as applied to talk therapy, which they declared was speech, not conduct, is “most likely” a First Amendment violation.
National Impact
Colorado and 25 other states currently have bans on “conversion therapy” for minors. This Supreme Court decision could put an end to every state’s censorship of therapists that forces them to stay silent on gender identity and same-sex attraction.
The Supreme Court’s decision dovetails with the Health and Human Services comprehensive review on Pediatric Gender Dysphoria, which advocates for more therapy and mental health assessment for children with gender confusion.
Research shows that 90% of children experiencing gender dysphoria grow out of it. If children can now receive proper counseling that explores why they may be experiencing LGBTQ+ feelings or confusion, without censorship from the state, then these deceived children can be saved from bad science and demonic ideology.
Ms. Chiles hopes this Supreme Court victory will spur therapists and counselors to further action. “I plead with counselors to rethink gender ideology’s claim that it’s possible to be born in the wrong body and to recommit to protecting young people,” she wrote in a Fox News opinion. “The kids struggling with issues of identity deserve this.”
Let’s Pray
Lord, we thank You for Your wisdom being exalted at the Supreme Court and for answering our prayers. Thank You for this Supreme Court ruling upholding every American’s right to free speech, especially for Christians.
We pray, Lord, that this righteous decision to allow therapists, counselors, and other health professionals to speak Your truth on gender and sexual orientation will take root all across our nation. We pray for these bans to be struck down in every state.
We pray that parents will seek out therapists and doctors who will speak truth to them and their confused children. We pray for the light of Your truth to shine on the medical community. Protect these children from any harm from so-called medical experts. We ask that you heal the hearts and minds of any confused child and restore them to Yourself. May they find their identity in Christ alone and desire to live a life pleasing to you.
“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’” (Matthew 19:14)
In Jesus Name, Amen.
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Belinda Brewster analyzes cultural, political, and world events from a biblical worldview. Belinda’s passion is to equip, support, and encourage parents and grandparents who are courageously battling against the spiritual and cultural forces impacting children and grandchildren. Photo Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images.
