Justice Gorsuch wrote that the First Amendment “safeguards not only popular ideas; it secures, even and especially, the right to voice dissenting views.”
The Supreme Court overturned the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling, which had upheld a 2019 Colorado law banning talk therapy by licensed mental health counselors that does not support transgender ideology. A licensed Christian counselor sued the state for infringing on her First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of religion. The law sought to punish violators through fines and license suspension.
“Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy, as applied to [the counselor’s] talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint, and the lower courts erred by failing to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion.
“Fortunately, that is not the world the First Amendment envisions for us,” Justice Gorsuch continued. He added that the First Amendment “safeguards not only popular ideas; it secures, even and especially, the right to voice dissenting views.”
An international study published since the Colorado law was passed shows that 60 to 90 percent of adolescents who experience gender dysphoria grow out of it by the time they reach adulthood. Justice Gorsuch wrote, “A prevailing standard of care may reflect what most practitioners believe today, but it cannot mark the outer boundary of what they may say tomorrow.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the justices of the Supreme Court as they hear and rule on challenges to the president’s orders and of state laws.
- For wisdom for Chief Justice John Roberts as he presides over the high court.
- For state legislators and governors to be discerning in the laws they enact.
Sources: Roll Call, PJ Media, NY Times
