Overview

• The Justice Department under President Trump participated in oral arguments backing counselor Kaley Chiles, saying the law suppresses one side of a professional debate.
• Colorado defended its 2019 statute as targeting a predetermined treatment goal deemed unsafe and ineffective, applying only to licensed providers and exempting religious ministry, with fines and licensing sanctions possible.
• More than two dozen states and Washington, D.C., have similar restrictions, so the ruling could affect conversion‑therapy bans across much of the country.
• Lower courts split on the issue, with a district court and the 10th Circuit upholding Colorado’s law while the 11th Circuit struck down comparable bans, leading to Supreme Court review.
• Major medical and mental‑health groups describe conversion efforts as discredited and linked to harms, while ADF, representing Chiles, has been accused in reporting of misrepresenting research it cited.