Minnesota reshapes conversion therapy rules after Supreme Court ruling

Minnesota lawmakers are moving a pair of new Senate bills to shore up the state’s 2023 conversion‑therapy ban after the U.S. Supreme Court signaled that outright prohibitions, like Colorado’s, may violate First Amendment free‑speech protections. The proposals would bar insurers from paying for mental‑health treatments aimed at achieving a predetermined outcome not initiated by the client — effectively cutting off insurance reimbursement for conversion therapy — and would create a clear right for patients to sue practitioners if they can prove they were harmed. Supporters point to Trevor Project data that nearly 15% of LGBTQ youth in Minnesota have been threatened with or subjected to conversion attempts, and to AMA findings that such practices lack scientific basis and are linked to higher depression and suicide risk. Opponents, including Agape First Ministries’ director Nate Oyloe, argue the bills are a back‑door attempt to dodge the Supreme Court’s ruling and still burden faith‑aligned counseling, warning they will invite fresh legal challenges. The measures have cleared an initial Senate hurdle with some bipartisan support, but their fate in the House — and whether this ‘viewpoint‑neutral’ insurance/liability strategy will survive in court — remains uncertain, even as Twin Cities families, therapists and insurers brace for another legal fight over what care can be offered and who pays for it.