In defeat for Catholic Charities, federal judge upholds Michigan’s ban on ‘conversion therapy’
February 05, 2025
In a defeat for a Catholic Charities agency, a federal district court judge has upheld the State of Michigan’s ban conversion therapy.
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In 2023, Michigan enacted House Bill 4616 and House Bill 4617. The first law prevents licensed mental health counselors from engaging in conversion therapy with a minor and provides for disciplinary sanctions if they do so. The second law defines conversion therapy as
any practice or treatment by a mental health professional that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including, but not limited to, efforts to change behavior or gender expression or to reduce or eliminate sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward an individual of the same gender.
Conversion therapy does not include counseling that provides assistance to an individual undergoing a gender transition, counseling that provides acceptance, support, or understanding of an individual or facilitates an individual’s coping, social support, or identity exploration and development, including sexual orientation-neutral intervention to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices, as long as the counseling does not seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Stating that the ban violates their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion, Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee, and Hillsdale Counties and Emily McJones, a Catholic therapist, filed suit in federal court and sought an injunction halting enforcement of the ban.
Judge Jane Beckering, a Biden appointee, ruled against them:
Plaintiffs allege that they believe that “when a client comes to them and seeks to change her gender identity or gender expression to align with her biological sex, or seeks to change her behavior to refrain from acting on same-sex attraction, it is their ethical and religious duty to help that client live the life she desires to live.” ...
Assuming, for the sake of argument, that Plaintiffs have plausibly demonstrated that Michigan’s law burdens the free exercise of religion, a law that burdens religious exercise is presumptively unconstitutional unless it is both neutral and generally applicable ... Michigan’s new law readily passes this test of facial neutrality.
“There is no reference to religion nor any use of words with religious connotations,” Judge Beckering continued. “Michigan’s law prohibits all conversion therapy on minors, regardless of whether the minor’s (or the minor’s parent’s) motivation for seeking such therapy is religious or secular.”
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