Missouri Conversion Therapy Ban Case Poised to Be Sent Back

An Eighth Circuit panel appeared ready Thursday to leave it to a lower court to decide whether to block Missouri localities from enforcing ordinances that ban metal-health counselors from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation with underage clients.

The parties agreed that the US Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Chiles v. Salazar—that a Colorado law banning conversion therapy was viewpoint-based and likely violated a talk therapist’s First Amendment free-speech rights—controlled the case. The debate focused mostly on whether the judges should order the lower court to issue the injunction or allow the district judge to decide if one is ...