Federal judge denies request to ax Michigan’s ban on conversion therapy

BY ANNA LIZ NICHOLS, MICHIGAN ADVANCE

MICHIGAN—A federal judge has rejected a request in a lawsuit to halt Michigan’s new law banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ youth.

Michigan became the latest of a growing number of states to ban conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ minors in summer 2023, with advocates for the legislation decrying the practice as “torture” for kids and a driving force behind suicide in the LGBTQ+ community.

At the same time, a lawsuit filed on behalf of Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale counties and a Catholic therapist in Lansing asserts that the ban is an affront to constitutionally protected free speech as well as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.

The lawsuit, filed last year, states it is an effort based in “helping children who experience distress over their biological sex” stating the plaintiffs filing the legal suit are “compassionate, professional counselors who help clients address a wide variety of life issues via the time-tested method of “talk therapy.”

The plaintiffs slam one of the bills that created the ban on conversion therapy for minors, HB 4616, as a legislation that violates the constitution and prevents therapists from taking a “cautious” approach when addressing therapy.

“… HB 4616 harms vulnerable children by depriving them of the compassionate counseling they so desperately need. Instead of allowing counselors to help children explore the underlying factors that may be contributing to their distress, and to help them accept and embrace their biological sex, HB 4616 forces counselors to “affirm” children in the belief that they were born in the wrong body and help them undergo permanent, life-altering medical procedures that many will come to regret,” the lawsuit reads.

The parties behind the lawsuit had sought to prevent the ban from being enforced while the case plays out. But U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering ruled last Tuesday that there is no evidence that the new law violates any constitutional rights of due process, expression of religion or free speech.

“The Michigan legislature acted rationally when it decided to protect the psychological wellbeing of its minors by preventing state-licensed health care providers from engaging in conversion therapy with them. Plaintiffs are not likely to establish the Free Speech violations alleged …,” Beckering said in the opinion. “… [P]ublic interest lies in regulating the practice of state-licensed professionals and protecting the psychological wellbeing of minors.”

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat who is defending the legality of the ban on conversion therapy for minors, said in a news release last Friday she will continue to work to get the lawsuit dismissed in order to protect Michigan’s youngest residents.

“The harms of conversion therapy on our children are well known and documented, which is why Governor [Gretchen] Whitmer and health officials took action to protect their mental health,” Nessel said. “States have a duty to shield their residents, especially kids, from treatments proven to cause devastating harm, and I am glad the Court denied this request to block the enforcement of this critical law.”

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This coverage was republished from Michigan Advance pursuant to a Creative Commons license.