ICYMI: Murray, Booker, Lieu Reintroduce Legislation to Ban Conversion Therapy
ICYMI: Murray, Congressional Democrats File Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court to Support Conversion Therapy Bans
Seattle, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Chiles v. Salazar. The decision rejected a Colorado law that protects children from the harmful practice of conversion therapy, putting at risk the safety and wellbeing of children in Colorado and 23 states around the country—including Washington state—with similar restrictions.
“Conversion therapy is a dangerous practice based on the hateful idea that being part of the LGBTQ+ community is an illness that requires treatment—it’s child abuse. Conversion therapy should be banned nationwide, and I have a bill to do just that because there is no real debate in the medical community—the overwhelming majority of mental health care providers know how harmful this practice is. I’m not going to stop fighting for a world where every person, no matter their gender or sexual orientation, can live with dignity and without fear.”
Senator Murray has consistently fought to ban conversion therapy and ensure that LGBTQ+ people have access to high-quality health care. Last year, Senator Murray, joined by Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-CA-36), reintroduced her Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act legislation that would ban conversion therapy—a practice that has been recognized by the national community of professionals in health, education, social work, and counseling as being both dangerous and useless. Senator Murray first introduced the legislation in the 114th Congress and has pushed to pass it every Congress since.
In addition to Senators Murray and Booker, the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act was cosponsored by Senators Baldwin, Bennet, Blumenthal, Cantwell, Coons, Cortez-Masto, Duckworth, Durbin, Fetterman, Gillibrand, Hassan, Heinrich, Hickenlooper, Hirono, Kaine, Kelly, Kim, King, Klobuchar, Luján, Markey, Merkley, Murphy, Padilla, Reed, Rosen, Sanders, Schiff, Shaheen, Slotkin, Smith, Van Hollen, Warren, Welch, Whitehouse, and Wyden.
The legislation was introduced in the House with 70 original cosponsors. The Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act is endorsed by the Congressional Equality Caucus, Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG, American Academy of Pediatrics, Equality California, National Association of School Psychologists, Christopher Street Project, and Advocates for Trans Equality.
Also last year, Senator Murray joined Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate in filing an amicus brief urging the United States Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of Colorado’s ban on mental health professionals engaging in conversion therapy for minors in this case, Chiles v. Salazar.
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