North Carolina isn’t exactly a liberal bastion, but it just took an important step toward protecting gay youth.
Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, signed an executive order on Aug. 2 that strips gay conversion therapy programs (which rely on the debunked idea that sexual orientation can be changed) of their ability to receive government healthcare funding. This is the right move: The government has no business promoting fraudulent medical practices, and no state should force taxpayers to subsidize a form of child abuse.
Cooper wrote:
Conversion therapy has been shown to pose serious health risks, and we should be protecting all of our children, including those who identify as LGBTQ, instead of subjecting them to a dangerous practice.
— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) August 2, 2019
Increasingly, more Republicans are realizing that conversion therapy isn’t effective or morally acceptable. In fact, Republicans such as Larry Hogan of Maryland and former Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada have signed bans on conversion therapy into law. Yet nonetheless, some socially conservative critics will no doubt target Cooper and try to falsely paint his move as progressive overreach or an attack on freedom of religion.
The facts simply aren’t on their side.
The governor’s stance against conversion therapy is backed by almost every legitimate medical and psychiatric professional organization. As Cooper notes in his executive order:
There’s also extensive evidence showing that conversion therapy doesn’t work, and, in fact, is incredibly harmful. The state of North Carolina has no obligation nor moral license to subsidize harmful, pseudoscientific practices.
Conservative critics might argue that Cooper, as a government official, isn’t permitted to enact policies that constitute viewpoint discrimination against Christians. While their point is well-taken and government should never unfairly discriminate against a religious group, the argument simply doesn’t apply in this case.
Cooper’s executive order applies equally to residents of all religions, including non-religious people, who seek to put their children through conversion therapy on the taxpayer dime. It’s no more viewpoint discrimination to limit state subsidies to legitimate medical practices than it is to only allow, say, education funding to go to accredited, approved schools.
Parental discretion is not absolute, nor does mere invocation of religion strip the government of its ability to intervene in all circumstances. Of course parents should be given wide latitude to raise their children as they see fit, but that does not extend to the right to cause your child physical and mental harm.
Cooper and North Carolina deserve praise for deciding their state will no longer be party to medical malpractice. Let’s just hope that hold-out states will soon follow suit.
