Supreme Court Limits State Bans on Conversion Therapy

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a counselor who argued that state laws prohibiting conversion therapy for minors violate the First Amendment [1]. In Chiles v. Salazar, the majority held that Colorado’s ban on the practice unconstitutionally censors speech based on viewpoint [2]. While the decision does not broadly invalidate all such bans nationwide, it establishes that laws restricting these practices face strict scrutiny regarding free speech [2].

Key takeaways

• The Supreme Court ruled that state laws banning conversion therapy for minors may be unconstitutional if they restrict free speech [2].
• Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion, arguing that Colorado’s ban engages in viewpoint discrimination, while Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissenter [1, 2].
• Major professional organizations, including the APA and AMA, condemn conversion therapy as neither evidence-based nor safe [1].
• The court remanded the case to a lower court rather than issuing a sweeping ruling against all conversion therapy bans [2].

A clash over speech and professional standards

The case centered on Kaley Chiles, a Colorado counselor described as a "committed Christian," who challenged the state's prohibition on conversion therapy [2]. The court