The U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, ruled that a 2019 Colorado law banning conversion therapy violates the First Amendment.
Justices on the court struck down the law that censors certain conversations between counselors and minor clients who express unwanted same-sex attractions or gender dysphoria.
The case focused on Kaley Chiles, a therapist in Colorado who uses talk therapy with minor clients to discuss unwanted same-sex desire and gender dysphoria. A lower court prevented Chiles from administering the talk therapy.
Justices on the Supreme Court, struck down that ruling, saying the law violated the First Amendment by regulating Chiles’ speech based on viewpoint.
“A law regulating the content of speech cannot avoid searching First Amendment review just because it mostly regulates non-expressive conduct,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the court’s majority opinion.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson filed the lone dissenting opinion in the case. She argued that medical professionals, like Chiles, have less protection from the First Amendment when they are administering treatment.
“No one directly disputes that Colorado has the power to regulate the medical treatments that state-licensed professionals provide to patients,” Jackson wrote.
Justice Elena Kagan acknowledged that medical treatment may contain regulations, including on speech. She argued laws are not able to post a risk of censorship.
“Laws of that kind may not pose the risk of censorship – of ‘official suppression of ideas’ – that appropriately triggers our most rigorous review,” Kagan wrote.
