Photo by Alliance Defending Freedom.
So-called “conversion therapy” just won big at the Supreme Court — and it’s a major victory for free speech and the rights of Christian counselors across America. First of all, let’s get the terms straight: conversion therapy is a phrase the left uses to disparage therapists who truly counsel their clients, rather than push the woke orthodoxy of chemical- and surgery-based “gender affirming care.”
In fact, 23 states and the District of Columbia have had laws on the books making it illegal for licensed counselors to help young people work through confusion about sexual orientation or gender identity. More than 100 cities and counties piled on with their own local bans. These laws stripped professional counselors of their First Amendment rights — silencing one side of a debate while the other side was free to speak. These laws told licensed professionals they had no right to give their own best counsel — that they must deliver state-approved messages instead.
That changes now. The Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 that these laws are almost certainly unconstitutional. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch put it plainly: the Constitution doesn’t protect the right of some to speak freely — it protects the right of all, including
Kaley Chiles, a licensed Christian mental health counselor from Colorado who brought this case challenging her state’s ban. Even two of the liberal members of the court agreed, saying the constitutional issue was straightforward.
The lone dissent came from Biden-appointed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — the same justice who, during her confirmation hearing, couldn’t define what a woman is. Her dissent was full of dramatic warnings about dangerous cans of worms and precipitous drops in healthcare quality. Justice Gorsuch answered her directly, writing that the First Amendment doesn’t bend to state-imposed orthodoxies, no matter how confidently they’re enforced.
The battle isn’t over. Expect licensing boards in liberal states to continue haranguing counselors like Kaley Chiles. Granted, Justice Elena Kagan may have left a door open for states to try again with differently worded restrictions, but for now, free speech won at the High Court – and that’s worth celebrating. It’s certain to have a ripple effect in many court cases to come.
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