BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1172
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1172 (Lieu)
As Amended May 25, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :23-13
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 6-2
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|Ayes:|Hayashi, Allen, Butler, | | |
| |Eng, Hill, Ma | | |
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|Nays:|Bill Berryhill, Smyth | | |
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| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Prohibits a mental health provider, as defined, from
engaging in sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), with a
patient less than 18 years of age. Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "mental health provider" as a physician and surgeon
specializing in the practice of psychiatry, a psychologist, a
psychologist assistant, a licensed marriage and family
therapist (MFT), a MFT intern or trainee, a licensed
educational psychologists (LEP), licensed clinical social
worker (LCSW), and an associate clinical social worker (ACSW),
a licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC) or a
registered clinical counselor, intern or trainee.
2)Defines "SOCE" as the practice by mental health providers that
seek to change orientation or reduce or eliminate sexual or
romantic attractions, feelings, or behaviors because those
attractions, feelings, or behaviors are directed toward
persons of a particular sex or both sexes.
3)States that "SOCE" does not include psychotherapies that aim
to provide acceptance, support, and understanding of clients
or the facilitation of clients' coping, social support, and
identity exploration and development, without seeking to
change orientation or reduce or eliminate sexual or romantic
attractions, feelings, or behaviors because those attractions,
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feelings, or behaviors are directed toward persons of a
particular sex or both sexes.
4)Prohibits under any circumstances, a mental health provider,
as defined, from engaging in SOCE with a patient under 18
years of age regardless of the willingness of a patient,
patient's parent, guardian, conservator, or other person to
authorize such efforts.
5)Makes findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding
SOCE.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "this bill establishes
first-in-the-nation protections for youths Ýfrom] dangerous
so-called therapies that aim to change a person's sexual
orientation. This bill seeks to provide protections for
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) youth by
preventing these types of pseudo-therapies that are potentially
dangerous. Practitioners may also try to alter a patient's
sexuality with visualization, social skills training,
psychoanalytic therapy, and spiritual inventions. Many SOCE
patients report negative social and emotional consequences such
as anger, anxiety, confusion, depression, guilt, hopelessness,
and deteriorated relationships with family, loss of social
support, sexual dysfunction, and even suicide."
SOCE is sometimes called reparative therapy or conversion
therapy. It is an attempt to change the sexual orientation of a
person from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual. This type
of therapy has sparked a national debate about the scientific
relevance and the effectiveness of the therapy.
On May 17, 2012, the Pan American Health Organization released a
position statement on the use of SOCE. The statement calls on
governments, academic institutions, professional associations
and the media to expose these practices and to promote respect
for diversity. In the statement, it concluded that "efforts
aimed at changing non-heterosexual sexual orientations lack
medical justification since homosexuality cannot be considered a
pathological condition. There is a professional consensus that
homosexuality represents a natural variation of human sexuality
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without any intrinsically harmful effect on the health of those
concerned or those close to them. In none of its individual
manifestations does homosexuality constitute a disorder or an
illness, and therefore it requires no cure. For this reason
homosexuality was removed from the relevant systems of
classifications of diseases several decades ago."
The statement further provided recommendations to governments,
academic institutions, professional associations, and the media
with respect to understanding, dealing with and responding to
the utilization of SOCE.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA),
"lesbian, gay, and bisexual orientations are not disorders.
Research has found no inherent association between any of these
sexual orientations and psychopathology. Both heterosexual
behavior and homosexual behavior are normal aspects of human
sexuality. Despite the persistence of stereotypes that portray
lesbian, gay, and bisexual people as disturbed, several decades
of research and clinical experience have led all mainstream
medical and mental health organizations in this country to
conclude that these orientations represent normal forms of human
experience. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual relationships are normal
forms of human bonding. Therefore, these mainstream
organizations long ago abandoned classifications of
homosexuality as a mental disorder."
In 2007, the APA established a task force on the Appropriate
Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation. The APA released a
summary statement from the task force's findings that concluded,
"the task force conducted a systematic review of the
peer-reviewed journal literature on SOCE and concluded that
efforts to change sexual orientation are unlikely to be
successful and involve some risk of harm, contrary to the claims
of SOCE practitioners and advocates. Even though the research
and clinical literature demonstrate that same-sex sexual and
romantic attractions, feelings, and behaviors are normal and
positive variations of human sexuality, regardless of sexual
orientation identity, the task force concluded that the
population that undergoes SOCE tends to have strongly
conservative religious views that lead them to seek to change
their sexual orientation. Thus, the appropriate application of
affirmative therapeutic interventions for those who seek SOCE
involves therapist acceptance, support, and understanding of
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clients and the facilitation of clients' active coping, social
support, and identity exploration and development, without
imposing a specific sexual orientation identity outcome."
As stated in the findings and declarations of this bill, there
are numerous other organizations that have taken similar
positions on the effectiveness, need, usefulness and problematic
results that may occur from the utilization of such therapy and
practices.
The National Association for Research Therapy of Homosexuality
(NARTH) is a group of psychologists and analysts that view
homosexuality as a dysfunction that can be changed. According
to NARTH"s statement on "the right to treatment," "NARTH seeks
to support the many homosexual men and women who are profoundly
distressed by their condition. Homosexuality is experienced by
them as completely contrary to their value system and their
conviction that all men and women would normally be heterosexual
were it not for disturbances in their early lives. We
acknowledge that many homosexual men and women do not wish to
change their psychosexual adaptation, and we respect their
wishes not to seek therapy. Furthermore we do not wish to
diminish the rights of homosexually oriented people in society.
However, we believe that treatment should be offered to those
who voluntarily seek it. NARTH works to protect the rights of
clients who do seek treatment, as well as the rights of the
therapists who treat them. Therapy is aimed at decreasing
unwanted homosexual attractions and increasing heterosexual
responsiveness, with the understanding that substantial change
will require a long-term growth process."
Analysis Prepared by : Elissa Silva / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN: 0004247