WILL Sues to Block Wisconsin’s Conversion Therapy Ban

U.S. Supreme Court Building. Photo is in the Public Domain.

A conservative law firm is suing state officials in federal court challenging Wisconsin’s ban on conversion therapy, arguing it amounts to unconstitutional “viewpoint discrimination.”

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, or WILL, announced the litigation Wednesday, saying it filed suit on behalf of licensed counselors Terri Koschnick and Joy Buchman, who both provide Christian faith-based counseling services.

Gov. Tony Evers, Department of Safety and Professional Services Secretary Dan Hereth and members of the Wisconsin Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling, and Social Work Examining Board are named as defendants in the suit.

A state administrative rule declares it is unprofessional conduct for licensed therapists or counselors to promote interventions or methods meant to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

WILL argues the rule essentially prohibits counselors from providing counseling in accordance with a Judeo-Christian worldview to clients seeking services that align with that viewpoint.

In a statement, Rebecca Furdek, deputy counsel for WILL, said Wisconsin’s rule is virtually identical to a Colorado law the U.S. Supreme Court found may violate the First Amendment in an 8-1 ruling in March, sending the case back to the lower courts for another look.

“When we notified the Evers administration of this fact, we were met with a blatant refusal to follow the Supreme Court holding, along with inflammatory, baseless rhetoric accusing WILL of ‘bullying’ children and Wisconsinites,” Furdek said. “However, Wisconsin counselors have every right to provide Christ-centered talk therapy to the clients who seek them out for that type of counseling.”

In his letter to WILL, Evers wrote that the demand for Wisconsin to stop enforcing its ban on conversion therapy “relies on a significant misreading of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision.”

He argued the Supreme Court didn’t fully overturn conversion therapy bans, and required courts to be more careful when considering whether bans on some kinds of counseling, like spoken word therapy, are unconstitutional.

“It is disappointing your right-wing advocacy organization wasted no time enthusiastically taking up the mantle to restore a long-disavowed and outdated practice,” Evers wrote.

According to the American Psychological Association, conversion therapy is largely ineffective and can increase risks of depression, anxiety, suicide and substance abuse.

“Youth and their families should be able to expect that a licensed medical professional would not put them at risk of severe harm, and conversion therapy practices do exactly that,” said Abigail Swetz, executive director of LGBTQ rights group Fair Wisconsin.

She added that the lawsuit aims to “advance harmful conversion practices” and follows a pattern by the conservative law firm of targeting the LGBTQ community.

But Furdek told WPR that WILL is trying to ensure counselors’ First Amendment rights are protected. She said the case is aimed at “talk therapy” and not aimed at the broader conversion therapy issue.

“Both of our clients have seen and anticipate continuing to see patients who wrestle with these deeply personal issues of gender identity and sexual orientation,” she said. “In the course of those conversations, they wish to express a faith-based perspective that they believe conflicts with this rule.”

Koschnick also added in a statement that the government “should not be allowed to police private conversations” she has with clients.

“They have no right to punish me for saying something they disagree with,” she said. “That was again confirmed by our nation’s highest court.”

Conservative law firm sues to block Wisconsin’s conversion therapy ban was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.