Arizona State House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) (pictured above, right) sent a letter to Governor Katie Hobbs calling on her office to rescind a recent executive order banning so-called “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ individuals and youth, calling it “unconstitutional.”
As defined in Hobbs’ executive order, “conversion therapy” is “any practice or treatment that seeks or purports to change an individual’s non-heteronormative sexual orientation or non-cisgender identity, including efforts to change behaviors or gender expression, under the false premise that homosexuality and gender-diverse identities are pathological.”
Hobbs’ executive order makes it illegal for state agencies to use “State or federal resources to promote, support, or enable any practice or treatment on minors known to be a form of “conversion therapy,” including authorized funds to reimburse for medical or mental healthcare known to be in connection with the practice of “conversion therapy” on minors.”
Arizona House Speaker @RepBenToma today sent a letter calling on Governor Hobbs to immediately rescind her recent Executive Order banning so-called "conversion therapy," which he explains is unintelligible, unenforceable, and very likely unconstitutional. @AZHouseGOP pic.twitter.com/J0G369o4lv
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) July 3, 2023
In his letter, Toma calls Hobbs’ definition of conversion therapy “unprecedented, vague, unintelligible, and unenforceable,” adding that the ban is defined by Hobbs’ administration alone – “bearing no resemblance to the laws of other states.”
“State agencies directed to implement your Executive Order cannot even begin to understand what constitutes a banned “conversion therapy.” Your Executive Order then exempts “gender-affirming care” but does not define this term (and none exists under Arizona law),” Toma writes.
Adding that the state legislature should decide such a ban, Toma also notes that the executive order “threatens to violate the Parents’ Bill of Rights, and Arizonans’ constitutional rights, including parents’ rights to freely speak with their therapists.”
“Accordingly, to prevent violations of Arizonans’ constitutional and statutory rights, costly and unnecessary litigation, and inevitable confusion among Arizona’s state agencies, you should immediately rescind Executive Order 2023-13,” Toma’s letter concludes.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network.
Photo “Ben Toma” by Ben Toma. Photo “Katie Hobbs” by Governor Katie Hobbs. Background Photo “Arizona Capitol” by Wars. CC BY-SA 3.0.
“Gender affirming care”? That sounds Yiddish.