[JURIST] The Oregon House [official website] on Tuesday approved House Bill 2307 [legislative materials], which prohibits health care professionals from providing therapy to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of young people. The lawmakers citde the mental and emotional damage the “conversion therapy” can cause and the doubted success of such practices to support their decision. The Iowa Senate [official website] passed a similar bill [legislative materials] on Tuesday that would ban therapy that attempts to convert lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender [LGBT] individuals from homosexuality to heterosexuality. The bill will now proceed to the Republican-controlled House.

In September the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a ban [JURIST report] on sexual orientation conversion therapy in New Jersey. The lawsuit was filed by two licensed therapists, among others, who practice “sexual orientation change efforts.” In 2013 the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld California’s law [JURIST report] prohibiting licensed therapists from counseling minors with the intent to convert their sexual orientation from gay to straight. California Governor Jerry Brown [official website] signed the bill [JURIST report] in 2012, making California the first state to pass a law banning this type of therapy.