The conversion therapy case is being heard a few months after the court’s conservative majority
upheld a Tennessee law barring certain medical treatments for transgender youth that the state deemed unsafe. Later this term, the justices will also hear challenges to state laws prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in girls and women’s sports.
On Tuesday, Justice Jackson noted that states have a long history of regulating medical treatment. Referring to the court’s decision in the Tennessee matter, she asked why the Colorado regulation at issue “isn’t just the functional equivalent” with state lawmakers similarly prohibiting a medical treatment for minors that major medical associations say can lead to an increased risk of depression and suicidal thoughts.
“The regulations work in basically the same way,” she said. “So it just seems odd to me that we might have a different result here.”
Hashim Mooppan, a principal deputy solicitor general representing the Trump administration, said the key difference is that Tennessee’s law dealt with drugs, whereas Colorado’s law governs what is said in therapy sessions, raising First Amendment concerns.