House Bill 485 might not use the words "conversion therapy," but opponents say the intent is clear — to protect the practice, meant to alter patients' sexual orientation.
Under the bill, protected counseling services would include those performed with the goal of "relieving discomfort or distress caused by an individual's sex or romantic or sexual attraction."
Republican Rep. David Hale, the sponsor, offered this defense in committee.
"Kentuckians have a right to seek counseling services that align with their values, their principles, their morals, and provide a safe approach to the mental health of the minors that they are that they have in their homes," he said.
Brandon Long described himself as an ordained minister and survivor of conversion therapy. He pushed back on the characterization of the bill as one shielding moral or spiritual counseling.
"This is not pastoral care. It is spiritual and psychological abuse. Religious liberty is not absolute. It ends where harm begins," he said.
Now on its way to the full House, HB 495 comes months after Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order barring conversion therapy, saying it rests on a "false premise that has no basis in medicine or science."
Opponents had signaled possible legal challenges to the order, calling it an attack on parental rights and religious expression.