Catholic therapists in Michigan are asking a federal court to protect their ability to provide compassionate, professional counseling to children struggling with sexual identity confusion.
The Lawsuit
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed the lawsuit on behalf of Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties and Emily McJones on July 12. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
McJones is a licensed therapist and owner of Little Flower Counseling; she lives in Lansing, Michigan. According to Becket, she counsels children and adults on various life issues. Many of Emily’s clients share her Catholic faith, and some of them include young people seeking help to address discomfort they feel with their biological sex.
Becket notes that Emily provides her clients with talk therapy, seeking to address the underlying causes of their discomfort, alleviate their distress, and, if possible, help them embrace their bodies without undergoing harmful and damaging transgender medical interventions.
“I opened Little Flower to offer those who come through my doors compassionate therapy that helps them live whole, integrated lives,” Emily McJones said in a statement.
“But now Michigan officials are threatening to strip my license because I provide therapy rooted in my faith and the best available scientific evidence.”
A review of available studies, conducted by the Institute for Research and Evaluation, shows,
The vast majority (averaging about 85%) of children who experience gender dysphoria will resolve their gender identity confusion and accept their biological sex by the time they reach young adulthood, that is, if they are not subjected to “social transition” or cross-sex medical intervention.
The Law
The lawsuit challenges Michigan’s law (HB 4616) which prohibits counselors from providing children with so-called conversion therapy.
Michigan law prohibits Emily, and all counselors, from helping their clients leave unwanted homosexuality or transgenderism. Counselors cannot help their clients align their thoughts and feeling with their sexed body through talk therapy. Counselors can only encourage clients towards homosexuality and transgenderism.
The law states:
A mental health professional shall not engage in conversion therapy with a minor.
As we’ve written before, the term “conversion therapy” was fabricated by those who oppose anyone leaving homosexuality or transgenderism.
At least 26 states and over 100 municipalities currently ban this kind of counseling for minors with unwanted same-sex attraction of gender confusion.
These laws – including Michigan’s therapy ban – infringe upon the counselor’s free speech rights and discriminate against them based on their viewpoint.
Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said, “Michigan’s attempt to gag compassionate, professional counselors is contrary to the Constitution, sound evidence, and common sense.”
The Constitution doesn’t let the government dictate what people can and can’t say — especially when the government is cutting off vulnerable children and families from counseling they desperately want to receive.
According to Becket, a hearing on the case is expected later this year.
What’s Next?
Laws that prohibit therapy have been challenged in various states and municipalities, with our nation’s federal courts ruling in different ways on the issue.
In a case out of Palm Beach County and Boca Raton, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the free speech rights of counselors who challenged similar therapy bans.
Judge Britt Grant, a nominee of former President Donald Trump, ruled that the First Amendment prohibits such laws.
Judge Grant wrote,
We understand and appreciate that the therapy is highly controversial.
But the First Amendment has no carveout for controversial speech. We hold that the challenged ordinances violate the First Amendment because they are content-based regulations of speech that cannot survive strict scrutiny.
People have intense moral, religious, and spiritual views about these matters—on all sides. And that is exactly why the First Amendment does not allow communities to determine how their neighbors may be counseled about matters of sexual orientation or gender.
However, other federal courts have ruled differently.
A federal district court ruled in 2019 that Maryland’s ban on talk therapy for minors with unwanted homosexuality or transgenderism is constitutional.
Since different courts have ruled in differing ways, it’s likely the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually get involved to decide whether such laws are constitutional.
So far, the court has declined to do so. Last year, the Supreme Court declined to take up the case of Brian Tingley, a licensed marriage and family counselor in Washington state. He argued that the state’s therapy ban (SB 7522) prohibiting counselors from helping minors struggling with unwanted homosexuality and transgenderism was unconstitutional.
Justices Kavanaugh, Thomas and Alito all dissented from the court’s decision.
“Tingley asks us to resolve this Circuit split and review whether SB 7522 violates the First Amendment. We should have,” Justice Thomas wrote, adding,
Under SB 5722, licensed counselors can speak with minors about gender dysphoria, but only if they convey the state-approved message of encouraging minors to explore their gender identities. Expressing any other message is forbidden – even if the counselor’s clients ask for help to accept their biological sex.
That is viewpoint-based and content-based discrimination in its purest form. As a result, SB 5722 is presumptively unconstitutional.
“I have no doubt that the issue [this case] presents will come before the Court again,” Justice Thomas predicted, “When it does, the Court should do what it should have done here: grant certiorari to consider what the First Amendment requires.”
All people struggling to leave homosexuality and transgenderism deserve our compassion and support. And counselors should be able to work with their clients towards that end.
Please pray that Michigan’s law will be ruled unconstitutional, and that minors in the state of Michigan will be able to receive support from counselors to live out a Christian and common-sense sexual ethic.
The case is Catholic Charities v. Whitmer.
If you or someone you know need help dealing with the transgender issue, check out Focus on the Family’s Transgender Resources page.
Focus on the Family exists to help families, and that includes help navigating the issues of homosexuality and transgenderism. Focus offers a free, one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. To request a counseling consultation, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.
Related articles and resources:
Counseling Consultation & Referrals
Addressing Gender Identity with Honesty and Compassion
The Journey Back to My True Identity
Photo from Becket.
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