Health Care Inside
Tenth Circuit lets Colorado keep ban on conversion therapy for minors
The Tenth Circuit said Colorado may treat conversion therapy for minors as regulated mental-health care inside its licensing system. That keeps the ban in place for licensed counselors even though the therapy is carried out through words.
Colorado can keep enforcing its ban on conversion therapy for minors in licensed counseling. A federal appeals court said the state is regulating professional treatment, not simply silencing speech.
- Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors remains in force.
- The court treated the therapy as professional conduct, not speech alone.
- Licensed counselors in the state are still bound by the rule.
- Colorado can keep enforcing its ban on conversion therapy for minors in licensed counseling after the Tenth Circuit said the state may treat that kind of therapy as regulated treatment rather than protected speech standing alone
- The ruling leaves licensed mental-health professionals in Colorado bound by the restriction when they treat young clients, even though the therapy is delivered through words
Colorado can keep enforcing its ban on conversion therapy for minors in licensed counseling after the Tenth Circuit said the state may treat that kind of therapy as regulated treatment rather than protected speech standing alone. The ruling leaves licensed mental-health professionals in Colorado bound by the restriction when they treat young clients, even though the therapy is delivered through words.
The line the court drew
The court placed the rule inside Colorado’s broader Mental Health Practice Act, which governs conduct by mental-health professionals when they are treating clients. In the panel’s view, that licensing framework matters: the state is not policing a casual conversation, but setting limits on professional treatment delivered by licensed counselors.
The opinion also draws a sharp line between therapy and everyday speech. It says talk therapy is treatment, not an informal exchange among friends, and that distinction is what lets Colorado keep the ban in place for minors inside its counseling system.
What stays open for families
The decision matters most for parents and minors looking for mental-health care, because it keeps Colorado’s rule in force inside the licensed system. Counselors remain free to talk, but not to provide the banned therapy to minors under the state’s professional rules.