Over 180 congressional Democrats have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, urging it to affirm Colorado’s prohibition on conversion therapy for minors, a practice designed to alter an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity through counseling or behavioral techniques.

An amicus brief was filed on Tuesday, with 20 Democratic senators and 167 House members labeling the practice as ‘harmful’ and a violation of medical ethics. This development follows earlier reports that the Supreme Court in March agreed to consider a Christian therapist’s challenge to the Colorado law, a challenge made on the basis of free speech.

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The therapist in question, Kaley Chiles, appealed a lower court’s decision that rejected her claim, asserting that the 2019 statute unlawfully censors her communications with clients, a violation of the First Amendment protections against government encroachment on speech. On this matter, the state has argued that it is not regulating speech, but professional conduct.

The Democrats’ brief is one among at least 70 filed since March. The brief states that the Tenth Circuit correctly ruled that Colorado’s law ‘regulates professional conduct that incidentally involves speech.’ Several groups are supporting Chiles in the case, including the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, the James Dobson Family Institute, the Family Research Council, and Do No Harm.

In May, the Department of Health and Human Services released a review advocating for a greater reliance on behavioral therapy rather than broad gender-change medical care and drugs for youths with gender dysphoria. ‘Our duty is to protect our nation’s children, not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions,’ National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya stated.

This raises important questions about the future of conversion therapy in the United States. Currently, Colorado is one of 23 states, along with Washington, D.C., that prohibit healthcare providers from practicing conversion therapy on minors.