Supreme Court decision threatens local bans
A recent Supreme Court ruling has put state and local conversion‑therapy bans — including Vermont’s — at risk by elevating free‑speech challenges over regulatory authority. Legal observers warn the decision could have spillover effects for other state‑level public‑health and nondiscrimination regulations. (vermontpublic.org)
The Supreme Court issued its opinion in Chiles v. Salazar on March 31, 2026, reversing and remanding Colorado’s conversion‑therapy law in an 8–1 decision authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch and directing lower courts to apply a more rigorous First Amendment scrutiny. (scotusblog.com) The majority held the Colorado statute targeted speech based on viewpoint, a legal framing that puts at risk conversion‑therapy prohibitions in roughly 23 states plus the District of Columbia that restrict licensed providers from offering such talk‑based interventions to minors. (fastcompany.com) Vermont’s ban — enacted as Act 138 and codified at 18 V.S.A. § 8352, which bars mental‑health providers from using conversion therapy on clients under 18 — is among the state statutes now exposed to new constitutional challenge. (legislature.vermont.gov) Attorney General Charity Clark joined a multistate amicus brief defending Colorado’s law on August 26, 2025, and told Vermont Public her office is reviewing the Supreme Court’s opinion for implications here. (ago.vermont.gov) Legal commentators and courts warn the ruling’s viewpoint‑based test could be cited to question other state rules that limit speech in therapeutic, public‑health, or nondiscrimination contexts, with Bloomberg Law and Roll Call highlighting potential effects on states’ authority to regulate medical care. (news.bloomberglaw.com) The case returns to the lower courts — Colorado’s law will be reconsidered under the new standard by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — where judges must decide whether any tailoring can preserve the statute or whether it must be struck down. (scotusblog.com) The petitioner in the Supreme Court case is licensed counselor Kaley Chiles, whose challenge argued Colorado’s statute unconstitutionally restricted her speech inside therapy sessions. (politico.com)
