Appeals court upholds Colorado's ban on conversion therapy for minors

[Jessica_Rose]

Appeals court upholds Colorado's ban on conversion therapy for minors

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/appeals-court-upholds-colorado-s-ban-on-conversion-therapy-for-minors/ar-AA1quLxo?ocid=windirect&cvid=70b3adb72e884aef9fa64e6828aff076&ei=61

Story by Darryl Coote (13 Sep 2024)

Sept. 13 (UPI) -- An appeals court Thursday ruled against a challenge to Colorado's ban on conversion therapy for minors, saying the state can continue to prohibit the controversial anti-LGBTQ intervention.

In a 2-1 decision, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the prohibition does not impinge free speech nor does it target religion. The ban aligns with the medical consensus that conversation therapy is "ineffective and harmful" and "rationally serves" the interests of the state to protect minors, the court said.

"We thus have no trouble concluding the [Minor Conversion Therapy Law] is rationally related to Colorado's interest in protecting minor patients seeking mental healthcare from obtaining ineffective and harmful therapeutic modalities," Judge Veronica Rossman, a President Joe Biden appointee, wrote in the ruling.

The ruling was celebrated Thursday by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which described the ban as protecting minors from serious harm by those attempting to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.

"These discredited practices, which falsely promise to be able to change a young person's sexual orientation or gender identity, have been rejected as unsafe by every major medical and mental health organization in the country," Chris Stoll, senior staff attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said in a statement.