The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Tuesday in favor of a Christian counselor who challenged a Colorado law she said could punish her for helping gender-confused children become comfortable with their own bodies instead of pursuing irreversible transgender medical procedures.
The case pitted the State of Colorado against counselor Kaley Chiles, who challenged a Colorado law that prohibited counseling that “attempts or purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” Chiles said that the law violates her First Amendment rights and has prevented her from accepting several clients.
“We conclude that the courts below failed to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny in this case. Start with the most obvious point. While the First Amendment protects many and varied forms of expression, the spoken word is perhaps the quintessential form of protected speech. And that is exactly the kind of expression in which Ms. Chiles seeks to engage,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion.
Chiles, who was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), argued that Colorado’s law, passed in 2019, is a direct attack on professional speech.
“I hope this win for free speech will fuel a greater pursuit of truth. Both amongst the professionals and in the counseling room,” Chiles said on Tuesday in a press briefing attended by The Daily Wire. “Our kids deserve it. The law I’m challenging harms kids and silences speech. Kids deserve real help, affirming that their bodies are not a mistake, and that they are wonderfully made. I’m grateful that my speech is protected.”
Chiles said the ruling would preserve more options for families.
“I am thrilled that the ruling will help struggling kids and families who are seeking professional guidance consistent with biological reality,” she said.
The court agreed that Colorado’s law did not hold up to First Amendment scrutiny.
“Colorado’s law banning conversion therapy, as applied to Ms. Chiles’s talk therapy, regulates speech based on viewpoint, and the lower courts erred by failing to apply sufficiently rigorous First Amendment scrutiny,” the majority held.
Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan wrote a concurring opinion. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissenter.
Jackson said in her dissent that Colorado’s law was constitutional because it was the state regulating healthcare.
“In my view, it cannot also be the case that Colorado’s decision to restrict a dangerous therapy modality that, incidentally, involves provider speech is presumptively unconstitutional,” she said. “In concluding otherwise, the Court’s opinion misreads our precedents, is unprincipled and unworkable, and will eventually prove untenable for those who rely upon the long-recognized responsibility of States to regulate the medical profession for the protection of public health.”
Jim Campbell, who argued the case for Alliance Defending Freedom, told The Daily Wire that the 8-1 decision was a major affirmation of free speech.
“It sends a message that viewpoint discrimination is egregious,” he said. “It is a really significant vote of confidence for the First Amendment. It is a condemnation of viewpoint discrimination, and it is a recognition that counselors must be free to have voluntary conversations with clients who are seeking their help.”
The ruling is expected to have broad implications for similar laws, called “conversion therapy bans,” across the country. Over 20 states have passed similar statutes and could now be in legal jeopardy.
Conservative groups like the American Principles Project praised the ruling from the court.
“The Supreme Court delivered a landmark victory for religious believers, parents, and, most importantly, vulnerable children,” said American Principles Project President Terry Schilling. “Colorado Democrats have shown they will stomp on the rights of anyone who stands in the way of the well-heeled gay and transgender lobby—whether it is bakers, doctors, or desperate families.”
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