State medical board seeks more input on conversion therapy ban

DES MOINES - Members of the Iowa Board of Medicine rejected a request Friday to ban so-called conversion therapy for minors by licensed medical practitioners. But, they agreed to designate a study panel to research the topic to determine whether to consider implementing a rule at a future date.

'This is a complex area,” said Kent Nebel, the board's director of legal affairs, during a meeting in which the state regulatory panel heard the pros and cons of a controversial treatment method - barred in four states and the District of Columbia - that attempts to convert lesbians and gay men to heterosexuality. The board had 60 days to take action on the rule-making petition filed Feb. 23.

Nebel suggested and the board concurred on a 9-1 vote to deny the rule-making petition for logistical reasons, not on the merits of the issue, and set up a process whereby various stakeholders, experts and other interested parties could engage in an informed discussion that would form the basis for a future board decision.

'You're kind of placing us in a difficult position,” said board member Charles Wadle, a West Des Moines physician and the only dissenter who noted the board allows other medical methods - such as acupuncture, dry-needle therapy and chiropractic - that have come under challenge 'and I'm a little concerned about going down this road.”

However, a group led by Timothy Foley, executive director of a state Youth Advisory Council, said the state should shield minors from 'sexual orientation change efforts” that have been debunked by most mainstream medical professionals as ineffective, dangerous and potentially damaging.

'Gay conversion therapy is scientifically unfounded, it is psychologically damaging, and it is prevalent in our state” Foley told the board during a presentation that included video clips from young people detailing negative experiences from outside efforts to change their sexual identities.

Other advocates said the state board has a responsibility to establish a standard of medical practice that prevents and protects against what One Iowa executive director Donna Red Wing called 'draconian and horrific practices.”

'If parents want an approach that stresses damnation and fear and shame,” said David Sickelka, senior pastor at the Urbandale United Church of Christ, 'then I suppose there will always be those who stand ready to offer that - for a fee.

'But it is certainly not the duty of the state to grant a license to someone who thinks that crushing the spirit of a vulnerable person in a crisis situation by using shame, intimidation and fear is justified by their religion,” he added. 'Please make this therapy a disqualification to having a license from the state of Iowa.”

Chuck Hurley, a former state legislator who is vice president of the Family Leader Foundation, agreed that no one supports medical therapies that are detrimental to young people. He noted however the rule-making petition called for banning 'sexual orientation change efforts” but allowed licensed physicians to counsel 'an individual seeking to transition from one gender to another.”

'We are not endorsing child abuse on either side of the ledger,” Hurley told the board, 'but let's just don't … have a one-way mirror saying that a doctor would be punished if he counseled regarding gender identity that might be a bad idea but a doctor would be allowed to counsel to transition from one gender to another. That's a one-sided argument, and I just encourage you not to go down that route.”

Pressed by Wadle, supporters of the proposed rule said they were not aware of any licensed professionals who engage in conversion therapy, but Alex Bare, a University of Iowa student and state Youth Advisory Council member, said the ban was viewed 'a preventive measure that is vital to our state.”

During the 2015 legislative session, majority Democrats in the Iowa Senate passed a ban on conversion therapy for minors by a 26-24 party-line vote but the measure stalled in the GOP-controlled Iowa House.

After the meeting, Hurley said it would be better to address the issue via the legislative arena rather than through an administrative rule driven by 'a cause.”

'I don't begrudge anybody for having a cause, but sometimes causes go looking for problems,” he said. 'I just think you've got to slow down some cause-driven people sometimes. I've had to be slowed down sometimes.”