02/08/2026
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Supreme Court Rules Michigan Doctors Can Once Again Treat Children With Psychosis
Grand Rapids, MI - Friends Community News Group, Aug 1, 2026 - Michigan has agreed to stop enforcing its ban on talk-based “conversion therapy” for minors after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a nearly identical Colorado law violated the First Amendment.
U.S. District Judge Jane M. Beckering entered a stipulated order and final judgment Thursday, July 30, permanently prohibiting state officials from enforcing Michigan’s law against licensed mental health professionals whose therapy consists exclusively of talking with their clients. The injunction took effect immediately.
The ruling does not formally erase the law from Michigan’s statutes. Instead, it declares the law unconstitutional as applied to licensed professionals providing talk-only therapy. It prevents the governor, state licensing authorities and other officials from enforcing it in those circumstances.
Michigan’s law, signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in July 2023, prohibited licensed mental health professionals from attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Violations could lead to professional discipline or licensing sanctions. The law took effect Feb. 13, 2024.
The legal challenge was filed in 2024 by Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties and Lansing-area therapist Emily McJones. The plaintiffs said they provide voluntary, client-directed counseling to young people experiencing distress involving sexuality or gender identity and argued that Michigan could not dictate which viewpoints therapists were permitted to express.
Beckering initially declined to block the law, but the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed her decision in December 2025. In a 2-1 ruling, the appeals court found Michigan allowed counseling that supported a gender transition while prohibiting counseling intended to help a client move away from that goal. The majority concluded that distinction likely amounted to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
The dispute was largely resolved on March 31, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 8-1 decision in Chiles v. Salazar. The justices ruled that Colorado’s conversion therapy law, as applied to talk therapy, regulated speech according to the viewpoint being expressed and therefore had to withstand the Constitution’s most demanding level of judicial review.
Writing for the court, Justice Neil Gorsuch said the First Amendment prevents governments from imposing an official orthodoxy on disputed questions. Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor agreed that Colorado’s law improperly suppressed one side of a debate, although they wrote separately. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole dissenter, arguing that states should retain greater authority to regulate treatments offered by licensed medical professionals.
Because Michigan’s law and the Colorado statute operated in substantially the same way, Michigan officials and the Catholic Charities plaintiffs agreed that the Supreme Court ruling controlled the Michigan case. Beckering found that the counselors had succeeded on their free-speech claim, faced irreparable injury, and were entitled to a permanent injunction.
Luke Goodrich, an attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty who represented the counselors, called the order a victory for counselors and families. He said therapists can now provide counseling consistent with a young client’s goals without fearing disciplinary action from the state.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office said the state agreed to the final order because the Supreme Court’s decision established binding constitutional precedent governing Michigan’s substantially similar law.
Whitmer’s office continued to defend the intent behind the legislation, which the governor had described when signing it as a measure intended to protect LGBTQ+ children from a harmful practice.
Major medical and mental health organizations have long opposed efforts intended to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, citing research associating such practices with depression, psychological distress and an increased risk of suicidal behavior. Supporters of Michigan’s law argue minors are particularly vulnerable to coercive or harmful treatment.
The plaintiffs, however, distinguished their talk-based counseling from forced or physically abusive practices. They maintained that the sessions were voluntary, involved no medication or physical treatment, and were directed by clients seeking counseling compatible with their personal or religious beliefs.
The Supreme Court did not rule that states are powerless to regulate therapists. States may continue enforcing neutral professional standards, informed-consent rules and laws addressing malpractice, coercion, fraud or physical mistreatment. The ruling limits their ability to prohibit counseling based specifically on the viewpoint communicated during a conversation.
Michigan became one of more than 20 states to enact a conversion therapy ban for minors. Following the Supreme Court’s decision, other states with comparable restrictions may have to narrow their laws or defend them under the strict constitutional standard established in Chiles.
By: Tom Manke
