Senate Republicans look at banning local bans on conversion therapy

DES MOINES — Senate Republicans are looking at prohibiting local governments from banning so-called conversion therapy, a method of attempting to convince gay people to become heterosexual that has been widely discredited and opposed by a bevy of medical and psychiatric organizations.

Linn County and the city of Davenport recently banned conversion therapy. The city of Waterloo also banned it, but repealed the ban over litigation concerns.

Under a bill proposed by state Sen. Sandy Salmon, a Republican from Janesville, cities and counties would be barred from prohibiting conversion therapy in their jurisdictions.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, called conversion therapy “a quack medical procedure” that doesn’t work.

Public comment

During the public comment period of a legislative hearing on the bill Wednesday at the Capitol, the first speaker was Samantha Fett, a Carlisle woman who has been active in Moms for Liberty organization and has declared her candidacy for the Iowa House.

Fett questioned the constitutionality of the local bans on conversion therapy, which she called “overreach.”

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Chuck Hurley, a lobbyist for The Family Leader, an Iowa-based Christian conservative advocacy organization, also suggested the local ordinances are unconstitutional and said the proposed legislation will save Iowa communities from unnecessary legal battles.

“I think your bill can help save some local governments time and hassle and money,” Hurley said. “I just encourage you to save local time and expense, and frankly some embarrassment (from) stepping on First Amendment liberties.”

Speaking against the bill were organizations representing Iowa cities and counties, social workers and LGBTQ advocates.

Lobbyists for cities and counties expressed their frustration with proposed state legislation that they said takes away the ability of local governments to govern their jurisdictions how they see fit.

“When we see a preemption bill, oftentimes what we believe is that the state is sort of interjecting what we sort of feel as a lack of respect for local decision-making,” said Daniel Stalder, a lobbyist for the Iowa League of Cities. “Preemption bills essentially say that decisions made under the golden dome (of the Iowa Capitol) are the only places that decisions can be made. That’s, generally speaking, what we don’t like.”

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Keenan Crow, with the LGBTQ rights group One Iowa, which has sought a statewide ban on conversion therapy, spoke against the bill.

“I’ve been told over and over again that we don’t need to address conversion therapy because it isn’t happening in Iowa,” Crow said.

“It would seem that this legislation is an implicit admission that not only is it happening, but that the Legislature wants it to happen, and in fact, wants to grant conversion therapists additional protections to engage in these dangerous, discredited practices that have been circumscribed by basically every major medical institution here in the U.S.,” he said.

“No one thinks that this is an appropriate form of therapy. Nobody even thinks that it’s actually therapy.”

Conversion therapy is opposed by medical and psychiatric organizations like the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, the American School Counselor Association, the National Association of Social Workers, and more.

A 2022 review conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health of studies and medical literature on conversion therapy “did not find scientific studies to support the effectiveness of conversion therapy practices.”

Bill advances

The two Republicans on a three-member legislative subcommittee advanced the bill, Senate File 2037, through the first stage of the legislative process. The bill now is eligible for consideration by the Senate committee on local government.

Sen. Jesse Green, a Republican from Boone, used an argument made by abortion rights advocates in advancing the proposed prohibition on conversion therapy bans.

“Democrats have told us for years that government should not get between a patient and a provider,” Green said. “And so, on this bill, I agree with that sentiment.”

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com