March 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned Colorado's ban on conversion therapy, saying state governments can't impose limits on what therapists can discuss with their patients.
The high court voted 8-1 against the ban on conversion therapy citing First Amendment protections. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone dissent.
"The First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority.
Justice Elena Kagan -- and joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor -- also wrote an opinion, saying she voted against Colorado in the case because the state's law was one-sided and not viewpoint neutral. She notes that the law bans conversion therapy but "specifically allows a counselor to offer therapy expressing 'acceptance, support' and other affirmation of the minor's 'identity exploration.'"
"Once again, because the state has suppressed one side of a debate, while aiding the other, the constitutional issue is straightforward," Kagan wrote.
