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Supreme Court Puts Conversion‑Therapy Bans Under Tougher Free‑Speech Scrutiny

The decision sets a higher bar for regulating talk therapy, steering states toward malpractice and fraud remedies.

Demonstrators rally at Stonewall National Monument in New York on April 1, 2026, a day after the Supreme Court directed a lower court to scrutinize Colorado’s conversion therapy ban on free-speech grounds. The new litmus test will eventually come for California’s landmark law, supporters and critics agree.
Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco, said the Supreme Court’s narrow conversion therapy ban ruling left a path forward for California and other states to take.
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Overview

  • The Court, in an 8–1 ruling on Tuesday, March 31, said Colorado’s ban as applied to talk therapy regulates speech by viewpoint and sent the case back for stricter First Amendment review.
  • Colorado’s law remains in effect pending lower‑court proceedings, and legal experts say other state bans still stand until challenged case by case.
  • The majority noted that fraudulent claims are not protected speech and indicated states may regulate non‑speech conduct or draft viewpoint‑neutral rules that could fare better in court.
  • California lawmakers advanced a fallback as SB934 received its first Senate hearing Tuesday, extending the time for survivors to sue conversion‑therapy providers to about age 40 and allowing expert testimony on harms to support malpractice claims.
  • Major medical groups continue to condemn conversion therapy as harmful to youth, while Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned in dissent about reduced patient‑safety oversight and right‑leaning outlets framed the outcome as a broad free‑speech win.