Supreme Court Strikes Down Conversion Therapy Bans in 8-1 Ruling
Key Takeaways
- Supreme Court strikes down Colorado's conversion therapy ban for LGBTQ minors on First Amendment grounds
- The ruling sends the case back to lower courts to apply a new standard
- Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented alone in the decision
Court Rules Against Bans
The Supreme Court struck down Colorado's conversion therapy ban in an 8-1 decision.
The court held that the ban censors speech based on viewpoint.
The ruling threatens similar bans in 23 states and DC.
Gorsuch Majority
Gorsuch wrote that the law regulates speech as speech, not conduct.
Kagan and Sotomayor joined the majority but filed a concurrence.
Jackson's Lone Dissent
Jackson dissented from the bench.
She warned the decision threatens to impair States’ ability to regulate medical care.
Conversion therapy has been widely discredited and found to cause lasting psychological harm.
Implications for States
The ruling invalidates more than 23 state laws.
It raises questions about how states can regulate speech-based medical treatments.
More on USA
Judge Strikes Down Trump's NPR-PBS Defunding as Unconstitutional
12 sources compared
Judge Blocks Trump White House Ballroom, Rules Congress Must Approve
31 sources compared
King Charles and Queen Camilla to Undertake State Visit to US in April
17 sources compared
ICE Arrests Over 3,700 Immigrants in Minnesota; Majority Had No Criminal Records
11 sources compared