First Amendment vs. counseling bans: SCOTUS delivers a definitive ruling

In 2018, the landscape was much different than today. Then, much of the public still bought into the messaging that social conservative positions were “hateful.” Thus, nobody wanted to touch issues that had received that label (thankfully, these tides are turning!). So, in 2018, when the Supreme Court signaled that counseling is protected by Free Speech, it wasn’t on the minds of many to attack bans on “conversion therapy.”

Back then, when someone heard the term “conversion therapy,” the imagery that came to mind for many was the harmful, coercive, and forced versions that TV and movies had depicted. This led to blanket bans on any counselor who would provide services to help minors not feel attraction to the same sex or to help a minor align their self-perception with their biological sex. In the eyes of the public, these efforts could not be done in a loving or supportive way, despite the reality that most counselors provide services that are both.

In many jurisdictions, these laws would also require counselors to provide services affirming those perceptions, even if the counselor believed them to be harmful or against their sincerely held beliefs. It would be considered discriminatory to decline.

As a civil rights lawyer at the time, counseling bans were important to me. To me, there were two major concerns. First, some young people actually don’t want to be same-sex attracted or to feel like they belong in the body of the opposite sex. For those people — never talked about — they deserve services to help them deal with their unwanted feelings. On the flip side, professionals should not be forced to provide services that do not align with their professional or religious beliefs.

This was particularly important to me because, as a Christian married to a Christian counselor, I did not want my wife to be put in the position to violate her beliefs or to face professional disciplinary actions. As a result, I began writing about the issue in 2015. To me, the bans clearly violated the First Amendment.

To those of us who were standing up to the bans, we were often treated with derision. And, even among prominent social conservative organizations, the position was to take on safer issues that were easier to message. In 2018, this was not a popular issue on any side. I experienced this firsthand, as many in the conservative movement would agree with me privately but would not stand alongside me.

In 2018, the Supreme Court signaled to everyone that the bans were illegal. But it was embedded in a case that had nothing to do with therapy. In National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, the Supreme Court struck down a requirement that forced pregnancy care centers to put up signage that would direct women to get an abortion. This was struck down as a violation of the First Amendment. But within that decision, the Court made a distinction that professional speech is still speech and, if a law discriminates against a particular point of view, it gets full First Amendment protection. And, there, the Court specifically referenced therapy as an example.

As an advocate for counselors and patients, I quickly recognized the possibilities. I wrote about it, and even The Christian Post interviewed me.  And I quickly went to work trying to oppose new efforts to ban therapy in Pennsylvania through my work with the Pennsylvania Family Institute.

However, we still had trouble finding partners with larger outfits to sue. And, when I would appear at city or county council meetings, I would get laughed at or shrugged off by the elected officials who were still intent upon stripping patients and counselors of their rights. It was frustrating. Even with the law on our side, we were still not convincing progressive state and local governments to stop violating patient and professional rights.

Thankfully, Liberty Counsel also quickly saw the possibilities and sued elsewhere. Eventually, Alliance Defending Freedom got on board and handled the appeals. And, on the last day of March 2026, the Supreme Court finally did exactly what it signaled eight long years ago. The Supreme Court definitively stated that banning speech in the form of counseling or therapy — even in a professional setting — requires full First Amendment protection. This means that only under the most compelling of reasons can the government ban the speech.

Put more plainly, it is highly unlikely that states or local governments can ban therapy that helps minors align their feelings with their desired feelings. What a glorious day!

Today, even the liberal justices are on our side! It is not so scary to stand up to injustices that have been labeled “hateful.” This should also serve as a lesson for the larger legal outfits. Because Liberty Counsel took a bold step, we now have protected patient and counselor rights. But this would not have happened without taking the risk.

We should be bold in our efforts. We should trust that God will help achieve the desired outcome. Litigation should not be about PR when the law is on our side. We can win in both the court of law and the court of public opinion when our cause is just.

It is said that law follows culture, but when Christians take the lead, law and culture just might follow.