(LifeSiteNews) — A three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked Michigan from enforcing a so-called “conversion therapy” ban on Christian counselors helping children overcome unwanted gender confusion or same-sex attraction.
Enacted in 2023 and taking effect the following year, Michigan’s HB 4617 prohibits counseling that “seek[s] to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity,” while allowing “counseling that provides assistance to an individual undergoing a gender transition, counseling that provides acceptance, support, or understanding of an individual or facilitates an individual’s coping, social support, or identity exploration and development, including sexual orientation-neutral intervention to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices.”
In January of this year, U.S. District Court Judge Jane Beckering upheld the law against a lawsuit brought by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, representing Catholic Charities and Emily McJones, a “devout Catholic” who operates a practice called “Little Flower Counseling.” Becket vowed to appeal to the 6th Circuit.
On December 17 that appeal paid off, with Judge Raymond Kethledge writing for the majority that the law is a “near-certain violation of the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights,” as it “discriminates based on viewpoint — meaning the law permits speech on a particular topic only if the speech expresses a viewpoint that the government itself approves.”
“Scientific evidence now demonstrates that conversion therapy is ineffective and harmful,” Judge Rachel Bloomekatz dissented. “Psychotherapy amounts to more than speech, she wrote, characterizing it as a kind of medical treatment that the state has the power to regulate. As such, the court’s majority opinion ties states’ hands as to medically-repudiated practices like conversion therapy.” Yet Kethledge noted that the counselors had submitted “studies and evidence that suggest their therapy can prevent serious harms to clients who seek it.”
“This is a victory for children nationwide,” responded Becket senior counsel Luke Goodrich, lead attorney in the case. “Michigan’s law was pushing children toward irreversible medical procedures that cause lasting harms. This ruling ensures that children who want it can receive compassionate, evidence-based counseling that alleviates their distress and helps them embrace their bodies without resorting to irreversible, life-altering medical interventions.”
“I am disappointed with the Sixth Circuit’s ruling in this case, and fearful of where it will lead,” responded Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “If therapists are permitted to harm their clients under the guise of ‘free speech,’ it’s only a matter of time before other licensed professions receive their own carveout.” The state has 14 days to request a rehearing or 90 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.
But the nation’s highest court is already considering a similar law in Colorado. During October’s oral arguments, a majority of the justices appeared skeptical it would pass constitutional scrutiny.
Opponents of such counseling commonly elicit opposition to the practice by invoking fringe, abusive, and outdated practices such as electric shock and other forms of physically harmful junk science. But in reality, modern reparative treatment consists largely of simple counseling, the effectiveness of which is backed by studies as well as testimony from those who have benefited.
In recent years, such opposition has become a double-standard given left-wing activists’ widespread embrace of not only actively encouraging transgenderism in impressionable, gender-confused children, but also subjecting them to potentially irreversible surgical and chemical transition procedures.
