By John Mack Freeman
Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Patty Murray (D-WA) along with 16 other senators introduced legislation this week that would make ex-gay therapy illegal in the United States. The bill would declare the treatment a fraudulent practice. Via The Washington Blade:
Booker and Murray along with 16 other Democrats introduced the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act, which would classify the widely discredited practice as a fraud, making it illegal under the Federal Trade Commission’s authority.
Booker, who last year introduced a resolution condemning “ex-gay” therapy, said in a statement the practice “is harmful, especially to children.”
“Our legislation will remove any question that the FTC and State Attorneys General have the tools they need to classify conversion therapy as what it is – fraud – and ban its use,” Booker said. “Conversion therapy is a discredited, harmful practice that has been rejected by countless medical and mental health organizations for years. It has no place in our society.”
