***NEWS
RELEASE***
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2016
#TherapyEquality Applauds TN Governor Bill Haslam for Signing Therapist Conscience Rights Bill into Law
Licensed
Professional Counselor Christopher Doyle Encourages other States to Protect Conscience Rights of Therapists and
Clients
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam took a
giant step in the right direction on April 27 when he signed Senate Bill 1556
into law, which honors a long standing ethical principle
for licensed mental health practitioners to be able to refer a client when not
doing so would violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.
The law was
proposed after the American Counseling Association (ACA) recently passed a
measure in the state that would prohibit counselors from making referrals based
on their religious beliefs.
Christopher Doyle is a licensed
professional counselor, leader in the #TherapyEquality
campaign of Equality And Justice For All (www.equalityandjusticeforall.org)
and co-coordinator of the National Task Force for Therapy Equality. He said the following:
“SB
1556 corrected a bad policy that was forced upon Tennessee counselors that would hurt both therapists and clients alike. It has been a longstanding
principle of counseling ethics that if a therapist is unable to affirm or
advocate for a client’s goals, he/she should refer to another therapist who can.
But the liberal ACA would rather impose a political agenda upon counselors than
do what’s best for clients and therapists. If a counselor cannot affirm a
client’s goal, whatever that may be, it is their ethical duty to refer. It is
not the ACA’s authority to insist that counselors change their religious values
or worldview to accommodate a non-licensing trade organization’s liberal
position.”
SB 1556 came under fire by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) activists in the state who claimed that the proposed law would
essentially give counselors a “license to discriminate” against clients who do
not share their religious values. But in actuality, the law protects client’s
rights by affirming a long-standing ethical duty for counselors to refer if
they cannot support the client and/or their goals.
“LGBT activists should be thanking the
Tennessee Legislature and Governor, instead they are making false claims and
threats that discrimination will occur because of the law. It is more
evidence that for gay activists, the facts do not really matter when it comes
to therapy equality and conscience rights. Politics trumps client and therapist
rights and the mental health field has increasingly succumbed to these politically
motivated policies. Thankfully, counselors in Tennessee can now rest knowing
they will not be brought up on ethics charges and possibly lose their license
for practicing their sincerely held religious beliefs. We urge more states to
enact legislation to protect both therapists and clients from politically
motivated policies enacted by trade organizations like the ACA who are
controlled by the LGBT lobby.”
Doyle and the #TherapyEquality movement has actively worked in over twenty states over the
last three years to protect the therapy rights for minors who experience
unwanted same-sex attractions or gender identity confusion and seek help from
qualified, ethical licensed professionals.
In 2015, the #TherapyEquality movement was instrumental in 15
states rejecting or refusing to pass laws that take away the therapy
rights of children and their families, despite the efforts of vocal homosexual
activists. So far in 2016, similar bills have been stalled or defeated in
Colorado, Hawaii, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, and New
Hampshire.
Four states plus Washington, D.C., and
the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, currently ban Sexual Orientation Change Efforts
(SOCE) therapy or licensed counseling to help minors with unwanted same-sex
attractions. Earlier this year, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also announced
regulations that will prohibit health care insurers in the state from covering
such therapies for minors. Additionally, the state of Vermont recently passed a bill to
prohibit therapy for minors that is expected to be signed by the Governor.
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Equality And Justice For All is the only civil rights
organization that works to further the general welfare of the ex-gay community
by promoting fair and equitable laws and policies protecting their rights. By
furthering individual self-determination and liberty for former homosexuals,
the organization strives to reduce bigoted representations of the ex-gay sexual
orientation status, ensuring that ex-gays and their friends and families can be
open, honest, safe and respected in a diverse society.
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