Posted on 05/02/2012 8:52:50 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A bill currently being amended in the California State Senate would make it harder for doctors who practice conversion therapy to service homosexual clients. If passed, it would be the first bill in the United States to regulate the practice.
Senate Bill 1127, which was introduced by State Senator Ted Lieu in February, would ban conversion therapy for anyone under the age of 18 and require adults to sign an informed consent form before entering treatment.
"Under no circumstances shall a patient under 18 years of age undergo sexual orientation change efforts, regardless of the willingness of a patient's parent, guardian, conservator, or other person to authorize such efforts," reads the bill in part, which was last amended on Monday.
David Pruden, vice president of Operations for the North American Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), told The Christian Post that the proposed legislation is "wrong-headed" and a "basic attack on all religion."
"We need to try and eliminate counseling for those who freely seek assistance for their unwanted homosexual desires because it makes some folks who may have decided to become committed gays feel depressed and sad," said Pruden, explaining what he believed was the reasoning behind the bill.
"How long will it be before adoption counseling or advocating against abortion is a hate crime because it makes some people feel sad or depressed?"
Senator Lieu, who introduced SB 1127, argued that conversion therapy is "junk science" that harms individuals rather than helps them.
"Being lesbian or gay is not a disease or mental disorder for the same reason that being a heterosexual is not a disease or a mental disorder," said Lieu in a statement.
"These bogus efforts have led in some cases to patients later committing suicide, as well as severe mental and physical anguish."
While Lieu argues for SB 1127 by noting that every American psychology group believes that "homosexuality is not a medical condition," Pruden of NARTH told CP that this is "political rhetoric."
"There are no statements from professional mental health organizations saying helping individuals with unwanted homosexual attractions is hateful," said Pruden.
"They simply say that in spite of the thousands of examples of individuals who have overcome their homosexual behaviors and significantly diminished their homosexual attractions that there is insufficient research evidence to prove that therapy can help individuals change their sexual orientation."
Dr. Jo Linder-Crow, executive director for the California Psychological Association, which is the state chapter of the APA, told CP that her organization has been working alongside Lieu to amend portions of the bill.
"We are currently in the process of reviewing the latest draft of the bill, and we have provided feedback to the author of the bill during the bill's progress," said Linder-Crow.
"We will continue to review the bill's content, in its entirety, before developing a final position on the legislation."
SB 1127 is currently in the California Senate Judiciary Committee and does not presently have a scheduled hearing, though Lieu's office believes this will happen next Tuesday.
$9 Billion+ in debt and California wastes time on fixing a problem that doesn’t exist.
When I tell people I moved out because California is insane, this is yet another perfect example.
Does this mean that no transgender change efforts can be done on anyone under 18?
State Senator Ted Lieu must like the yong boys better than the older ones?.
If this passes, then it will be expanded to include attempts to bring homos to Christ.
Even if most of the research I've read indicates conversion therapy is only successful in converting homosexuals to heterosexuals slightly less than half the time, that is still way better odds than contacting AIDS.
Further, who is to say that the failures are not due more to environmental reinforcement (i.e. the inevitable affirmations flooding from the sewer pipes of Hollywood and popular culture) than natural predisposition?
Further still, even among the failed conversions, the therapy has been effective in training some gays to go celibate, a decision which not only extends their productive and healthy years, but also those of partners with whom they might otherwise contact or spread potentially fatal STD's.
In short, there is really no downside to conversion therapy other than its refusal to normalize deviant behavior.
Bringing a child into California is child abuse.
Typical California liberal BS.
Only sex-change counseling will be OK.
“Being lesbian or gay is not a disease or mental disorder for the same reason that being a heterosexual is not a disease or a mental disorder,” said Lieu in a statement.
Of course it is a mental illness you asshat..
If humans are supposed to be homosexual and not heterosexual how did we come into being? How did survive and populate?
RE: Conversion therapy has saved or extended the lives of more gay people than all the expensive treatments combined which treat only the symptoms and ignore the root causes.
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The moment you even so much as suggest that a person can change, you are target for vilification by the lame stream press.
You can’t even pray with a person you want to help.
Just ask Dr. Marcus Bachmann ( husband of then presidential candidate, Michele Bachmann ).
“Senate Bill 1127, which was introduced by State Senator Ted Lieu in February, would ban conversion therapy for anyone under the age of 18 and require adults to sign an informed consent form before entering treatment.”
Lieu’s an Air Force reserve JAG. Embarrassing.
Bill of Attainder! (since it presumably only applies to Michele Bachmann’s husband)
Silly you. This bill means they can change their genitals, but they can’t change their minds.
...And taxpayer supported murder of infants.
No. He’s a heterosexual with a normal wife and children. They live on the block behind ours and their children go to the same school as my son. I even saw him at mass once, during a campaigning period.
What Ted Lieu likes is to try to stake out a position on some trendy issue to get noticed, especially by Democratic power holders like unions and Planned Parenthood.
A few years ago he decided to oppose non-doctors owning 3D sonagram machines. I can’t remember what his other attempts to get attentions have been.
He has had ample opportunity to do something real that would help the CA legislature face reality, but has declined, in favor of pursuing measures like this.
Sounds like he’s clueless to real issues and just wants to be on a band wogon to secure his job.
He’s useless.
yep.
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