PHOENIX β The top House Republican contends the governorβs order banning use of public funds to promote, support or enable βconversion therapyββ is illegal and appears to violate the rights of parents to make decisions for their children.
In a letter Monday to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, House Speaker Ben Toma acknowledged that some states have banned the practice. But he said that can be done only by the Legislature.
βYour executive order is an improper exercise of your authority,ββ the Peoria Republican told Hobbs.
Toma also said her definition of βconversion therapyββ is βunprecedented, vague, unintelligible, and unenforceable,ββ citing her use of the words βany practice or treatment.ββ
βState agencies directed to implement your executive order cannot begin to understand what constitutes a banned βconversion therapy,ββ Toma wrote.
But gubernatorial press aide Christian Slater said the order, issued last week, is a bit more specific.
What it outlaws is βany practice or treatment that seeks or purports to change an individualβs non-heteronormative sexual orientation or non-cisgender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expression, under the false premise that homosexuality and gender-diverse identities are pathological.ββ
And Slater pointed out that Hobbsβ order cited the position of the American Psychological Association. It has stated βsexual orientation conversion effortsββ are linked to increased suicide attempts.
Hobbs also said the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has determined that so-called conversion therapy is βcoercive, can be harmful, and should not be part of behavioral health treatment.ββ The practice is scientifically discredited, the Associated Press has reported.
βParentsβ Bill of Rightsβ
But Toma said there are other issues.
One is the βParentsβ Bill of Rights,ββ a broad statement in Arizona law of the rights of parents over a minor child βwithout obstruction or interference from this state.ββ Provisions range from directing the childβs education and upbringing to deciding the childβs moral or religious training.
There also is a provision saying the government may βusurp the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing, education, health care and mental healthββ of their children only by first showing it is βessential to accomplish a compelling governmental interest of the highest orderββ and that the method of interference βis narrowly tailored and is not otherwise served by a less restrictive means.ββ
Other than citing the opposition of various medical experts and professional organizations, Hobbsβ executive order cites one such interest.
βThe government has a duty to taxpayers to ensure that decisions are fiscally sound, transparent, and evidence based, and that public healthcare funds are not spent on discredited, ineffective, and unsafe practices,ββ Hobbs stated.
He also cites freedom of speech
Toma also said the state constitutional right of freedom of speech protects the right of patients to speak freely with their therapists.
He also cited a 2020 federal appellate court ruling, which voided as unconstitutional a βconversion therapyβ ban enacted by a Florida city. There, Toma said, the court determined the First Amendment does not allow the government to determine how their neighbors may be counseled about matters of sexual orientation or gender.
But Slater said all that misses a crucial point.
βItβs not like an actual ban on conversion therapy,ββ he said of the governorβs order. βThat would have to be statutory,ββ just like Toma is claiming.
This, he said, βis just a ban on the state promoting or supporting conversion therapy.ββ