The Utah Senate on Friday unanimously approved legislation to ban some health care providers from practicing conversion therapy for minors, moving the legislature closer to codifying rules set by the state government in 2020.
below billintroduced in January by Republican state Rep. Michael J. Petersen, licensed health care providers who engage in conversion therapy — a discredited practice intended to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity — with a minor can are charged with unprofessional conduct, punishable in Utah by up to one year in prison and a maximum fine of $2,500.
However, the measure does not apply to an individual who is “both a health care professional and a religious counselor” when that person is “acting essentially in the capacity of a religious counselor rather than a health care professional.”
The bill provides similar exemptions for parents or grandparents who are also licensed health care providers.
During a House hearing this month, Peterson argued that a list of rules issued by the Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DPOL) in 2020 banning conversion therapy for minors is too broad, and he said his bill addresses concerns raised by both health care and LGBTQ. communities.
“I’ve spoken with former colleagues who have stopped treating minors because of the ambiguity in the DOPL rule and fear of retaliation if they said anything disparaging about their minor patients,” Peterson said this month. He added that LGBTQ people in Utah have said they are grateful for the legislation “because they wish their counselors had been more inquisitive and inquisitive during their therapy sessions.”
But LGBTQ advocates clashed with Peterson and members of the Legislature earlier this month over an initial draft of the bill that did not outright prohibit providers from engaging in talk therapy aimed at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. minor.
The measure was later amended to address these concerns and passed the State House on a unanimous vote. On Friday, the revised bill passed the Senate on a 27-0 vote. Two Republican state senators, Don Ipson and Jerry Stevenson, were noted absent.
The state’s leading LGBTQ advocacy group, Equality Utah, in a STATEMENT on Friday called the vote “a remarkable moment in Utah’s LGBTQ history.”
The measure now heads to the desk of Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) for final approval. Cox said this month his office supports the revised legislation.
Cox in 2019, while serving as Utah’s lieutenant governor, apologized to the protesters in the state capitol after a similar measure to ban the practice was shot down by the Legislature. A replacement bill would have narrowed the definition of conversion therapy to exclude practices such as talk therapy.
While Cox has been a supporter of LGBTQ rights in the past, in January, he the approved legislation to ban gender-affirming health care for minors, making Utah one of the four states to issue such a law. Arizona and Tennessee have enacted partial bans.
During an appearance on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” this month, Cox defended his decisionarguing that the new law eases a needed pause in the delivery of gender-affirming medical care until more data is available on the long-term effects of treatments.
