Liberty Counsel Asks High Court to Review Change Therapy Bans

Washington, DC - Yesterday, Liberty Counsel filed a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Third Circuit's decision in King v. Christie, which is Liberty Counsel's case on behalf of licensed mental health professionals who are providing - and families who are receiving - counseling to reduce or eliminate their unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, or identity.

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"The lives and mental health of minors in New Jersey are at stake, and it is critical that the Supreme Court step in to protect the fundamental rights of counselors, minor clients, and their parents," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "Clients have the fundamental right to set the goals and objectives of their counseling, and the State has no place interjecting its politically motivated assault on the religious beliefs of minors and their parents in New Jersey," Staver concluded. Liberty Counsel asked the Court to grant review to resolve the divergent decisions among the circuit courts of appeal concerning the appropriate level of scrutiny that regulations of speech between a counselor and client or doctor and patient receive. A3371 barges into the counselor's office to declare that only counseling and discussion affirming or encouraging same-sex attractions, behavior, or identity is permissible in New Jersey, regardless of the client's sincerely held religious beliefs to the contrary. "The State has no authority to silence only one viewpoint on same-sex attractions, behaviors, or identity," said Staver. "Laws restricting what counseling a minor can receive based solely on its content or viewpoint concerning same-sex attractions, behaviors, or identity are simply unconstitutional and should be struck down," Staver said. "The Third Circuit's decision ran roughshod over the First Amendment, and the Supreme Court needs to review and reverse that decision," concluded Staver.