ADF to 3rd Circuit: Counseling is protected free speech

PHILADELPHIA — Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in opposition to a New Jersey law that prohibits minors from obtaining counseling for unwanted same-sex attraction even with parental permission. The brief, filed on behalf of the International Healing Foundation, asks the appeals court to reverse a district judge who upheld the law based on the erroneous conclusion that counseling is not speech and therefore is not protected by the First Amendment.

“Counseling is clearly protected speech. The district judge’s contrary conclusion, if allowed to stand, threatens the freedom of all counselors and their clients,” said Litigation Counsel Caleb Dalton. “Every person has a right to seek counseling for their personal health goals. New Jersey politicians shouldn’t be able to restrict this basic liberty.”

The New Jersey law, Assembly Bill 3371, prohibits parents from allowing their children to obtain counseling for unwanted same-sex attraction. The lawsuit King v. Governor of New Jersey challenges the constitutionality of the law.

As the brief Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed explains, “A3371 impairs counselors’ ability to respect the dignity and autonomy of clients that wish to change their sexual orientation, and forces them to leave their clients in an unhealthy state of physiological frustration with their sexual orientation. The lower court’s exclusion of professional speech from First Amendment protections was erroneous, and its rationale endangers a broad spectrum of expression.”

“Politicians have no business dictating decisions that are for families to make,” added Senior Counsel Byron Babione. “Society should respect the dignity and autonomy of all people to receive counseling consistent with their needs and values.”