CA Reparative Therapy Ban Put on Hold

A federal appeals court last week put the brakes on a first-of-its-kind California law that bans therapy aimed at helping children with same sex attraction who want to leave the lifestyle.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency order putting the law on hold until it can hear full arguments on the issue. The law was set to take effect Jan. 1.

Licensed counselors who practice what is known as “reparative therapy” and two families whose teenage sons have benefited from it sought the injunction after a lower court judge refused the request.

The law states that therapists and counselors who use “sexual orientation change efforts” on clients under 18 would be engaging in unprofessional conduct and subject to discipline by state licensing boards.