Massachusetts House Passes 'Conversion Therapy' Ban – With A Twist

The Massachusetts House of Representatives has passed a bill banning so-called “conversion therapy” for children – but only after dropping a provision that would have defined seeking it as child abuse.

The measure would make it illegal for licensed mental-health therapists to offer techniques for patients under 18 years old designed “to impose change on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity,” on pain of losing their license to practice.

The House voted 137 to 14 in favor of the measure, now known as House Bill 4664.

Earlier in the day the House Ways and Means Committee voted to recommend the bill, but only after taking out a section from the original version that would have required a “mandated reporter” (such as a teacher, doctor, or nurse) to notify state authorities if a child has been “subjected to sexual orientation and gender identity efforts” – which critics of the bill said could have led to social-services investigations of parents seeking mental-health treatment for their children.

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