Catholic counselors sue Michigan over therapy restrictions for trans-identifying kids

Michigan State Capitol Building in Lansing, Michigan. / Credit: John McLenaghan/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 16, 2024 / 15:50 pm (CNA).

Catholic counselors filed a federal lawsuit on Friday against Michigan’s broad ban on so-called “conversion therapy” for minors, saying the law limits their ability to counsel children struggling with their gender identity. 

The Michigan law, HB 4616, directs that mental health professionals “shall not engage in conversion therapy with a minor.” The lawsuit, filed in U.S. district court, argues that the rule “forces counselors to ‘affirm’ children in the belief that they were born in the wrong body.”

Catholic counselor Emily McJones and several local Catholic Charities affiliates argue in the suit that the law, passed in July of last year, “harms vulnerable children.”

“This is a lawsuit about helping children who experience distress over their biological sex,” the 33-page complaint of Catholic Charities v. Whitmer argues.

“I opened Little Flower to offer those who come through my doors compassionate therapy that helps them live whole, integrated lives,” McJones, a licensed therapist and owner of the Lansing-based Little Flower Counseling, said in a July 12 press release from the religious liberty law firm Becket, which is representing the plaintiffs.

“But now Michigan officials are threatening to strip my license because I provide therapy rooted in my faith and the best available scientific evidence,” McJones said.

McJones joined the Catholic Church in 2017 and began her practice in 2020. Named for St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who is known as “the Little Flower,” her practice offers “psychotherapy from an authentically Catholic perspective,” according to her website.

Her practice is open to anyone. Her website states that she “will never violate my faith in my practice” and will “never push my faith” on clients.

HB 4616 allows only what state statute calls “acceptance, support, or understanding” from counselors discussing gender transitions with their clients, requiring that a counselor “does not seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” 

Those in violation of the law could lose their license or be fined up to $250,000.

Michigan is one of 22 other states that have restrictions against so-called “conversion therapy.” A Christian marriage and family counselor’s lawsuit against a Washington state ban on “conversion therapy” reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023, but the court declined to hear it. 

“Michigan’s attempt to gag compassionate, professional counselors is contrary to the Constitution, sound evidence, and common sense,” Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said in the group’s press release.

“The Constitution doesn’t let the government dictate what people can and can’t say — especially when the government is cutting off vulnerable children and families from counseling they desperately want to receive,” he noted.

The suit argues that HB 4616 violates due process because “it employs vague, undefined terms that invite arbitrary and selective enforcement” as well as violating rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.

“Worse, HB 4616 harms vulnerable children by depriving them of the compassionate counseling they so desperately need,” the lawsuit read.

“Instead of allowing counselors to help children explore the underlying factors that may be contributing to their distress, and to help them accept and embrace their biological sex, HB 4616 forces counselors to ‘affirm’ children in the belief that they were born in the wrong body and help them undergo permanent, life-altering medical procedures that many will come to regret.”

The Catholic Church affirms biological sex as a gift from God. A recent document from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dignitas Infinita, noted: “Any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception.”

The lawsuit requests a preliminary and permanent injunction against the enforcement of HB 4616. A hearing is expected later this year.