Michigan has agreed to quit enforcing a state ban on therapy that seeks to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of a minor as part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit.
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A stipulated order and final judgment was entered Thursday in the case of Catholic Charities v. Whitmer at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
According to the order, Michigan agreed to stop enforcing the state ban “against licensed professionals who engage in therapy that consists exclusively of talking.”
As part of the agreement, the district court declared that the state ban “as applied to licensed mental health professionals engaged in therapy that consists exclusively of talking, violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
A key influence on the order was the U.S. Supreme Court decision Chiles v. Salazar, in which the high court ruled 8-1 in March that Colorado cannot ban therapists from counseling minors seeking to change their sexual orientation or treat gender dysphoria.
Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the majority opinion, writing that “we conclude that the courts below failed to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny in this case.”
“While the First Amendment protects many and varied forms of expression, the spoken word is perhaps the quintessential form of protected speech. And that is exactly the kind of expression in which Ms. Chiles seeks to engage,” Gorsuch wrote.
“Colorado’s law does not just regulate the content of Ms. Chiles’s speech. It goes a step further, prescribing what views she may and may not express.”
Luke Goodrich, senior counsel at Becket and lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement Thursday that he considered the order “a major victory for children, counselors, and common sense.”
“Kids who are hurting deserve compassion, not a one-way ticket to harmful drugs, hormones, and surgery,” Goodrich said. “Now counselors can offer compassionate counseling without fearing that state bureaucrats will come knocking.”
In July 2023, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed House Bills 4616 and 4617 into law, which barred mental health professionals from engaging in therapy with a minor aimed at changing their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Democratic State Rep. Felicia Brabec, who sponsored both bills, released a statement at the time saying that the therapy ban came “at an especially necessary moment” in light of “all the anti-gay and anti-trans rhetoric going on.”
“As a clinical psychologist, I recognize the severe implications behind conversion therapy and understand how harmful the practice can be on the mental health of our children,” Brabec said.
“With the stroke of the governor’s pen, these bills became law and will continue to promote efforts toward a healthier Michigan. Banning such an adverse and outdated practice is a great step toward continuing to affirm Michigan’s protections for individual identity and self-expression.”
In July 2024, a group of plaintiffs that included Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties, as well as licensed therapist Emily McJones, filed suit against the law. Becket said its clients helped children address “the underlying causes of their discomfort, alleviate their distress, and, if possible, embrace their bodies without resorting to harmful, irreversible medical interventions.”
The legal group says that the approach is supported by recently enacted laws and guidance in around two dozen states that bar hormonal and surgical interventions for minors below 18.
Last December, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled 2-1 in favor of the plaintiffs, granting a preliminary injunction and reversing a lower court decision.
Circuit Judge Raymond Kethledge, a George W. Bush appointee, authored the majority opinion, writing that the state law “discriminates based on viewpoint” and that “plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their First Amendment claim.”
Kethledge added that counsel for the defendants “candidly admitted that the defendants lack a single example of any regulation of treatment (other than HB 4616 and nearly identical statutes in other states) whose application was triggered by the content of a provider’s speech.”
Circuit Judge Rachel Bloomekatz, a Biden appointee, authored a dissenting opinion, arguing that “Michigan’s prohibition on conversion therapy is likely constitutional” since “all major medical organizations condemn conversion therapy as an illegitimate medical treatment.”
Several European countries in recent years have rexamined their approach to caring for children with gender dysphoria, including the United Kingdom National Health Service. Last May, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a 400-page report warning that hormonal and surgical “interventions carry risk of significant harms including infertility/sterility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone density accrual, adverse cognitive impacts, cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, psychiatric disorders, surgical complications, and regret.”
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This article was originally published at The Christian Post. Photo Credit: KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA on Pexels.
