Bill Text: CA SB1172 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Sexual orientation change efforts.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2012-09-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 835, Statutes of 2012. [SB1172 Detail]

Download: California-2011-SB1172-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1172	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 25, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 16, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 9, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Lieu

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act to add Article 15 (commencing with Section 865) to Chapter
1 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to
healing arts.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1172, as amended, Lieu. Sexual orientation change efforts.
   Existing law provides for licensing and regulation of various
professions in the healing arts, including physicians and surgeons,
psychologists,  psychiatric technicians,  marriage
and family therapists, educational psychologists, clinical social
workers, and licensed professional clinical counselors.
   This bill would prohibit psychotherapists, as defined, from
performing sexual orientation change efforts, as defined, in the
absence of informed consent of the patient. The bill would require a
specified statement to be included on the informed consent form.
Informed consent would not be effective for patients under 18 years
of age. The bill would provide for a cause of action against
psychotherapists by patients, former patients, or certain other
persons in specified cases.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) An individual's sexual orientation, whether homosexual,
bisexual, or heterosexual, is not a disease, disorder, illness,
deficiency, or shortcoming. The major professional associations of
mental health practitioners and researchers in the United States have
recognized this fact for nearly 40 years.
   (b) Sexual orientation change efforts pose critical health risks
to lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, including confusion,
depression, guilt, helplessness, hopelessness, shame, social
withdrawal, suicidality, substance abuse, stress, disappointment,
self-blame, decreased self-esteem and authenticity to others,
increased self-hatred, hostility and blame toward parents, feelings
of anger and betrayal, loss of friends and potential romantic
partners, problems in sexual and emotional intimacy, sexual
dysfunction, high-risk sexual behaviors, a feeling of being
dehumanized and untrue to self, a loss of faith, and a sense of
having wasted time and resources. This is documented by the American
Psychological Association Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic
Responses to Sexual Orientation in its 2009 Report of the Task Force
on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation.
   (c) Recognizing that there is no evidence that any type of
psychotherapy can change a person's sexual orientation and that
sexual orientation change efforts may cause serious and lasting
harms, the American Psychiatric Association, the American
Psychological Association, the American Counseling Association, the
National Association of Social Workers, and the American Academy of
Pediatrics uniformly oppose efforts to change the sexual orientation
of any individual.
   (d) Minors who experience family rejection based on their sexual
orientation face especially serious health risks. In one study,
lesbian, gay, and bisexual young adults who reported higher levels of
family rejection during adolescence were 8.4 times more likely to
report having attempted suicide, 5.9 times more likely to report high
levels of depression, 3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs,
and 3.4 times more likely to report having engaged in unprotected
sexual intercourse compared with peers from families that reported no
or low levels of family rejection. This is documented by Caitlyn
Ryan et al. in their article entitled Family Rejection as a Predictor
of Negative Health Outcomes in White and Latino Lesbian, Gay, and
Bisexual Young Adults (2009) 123 Pediatrics 346.
   (e) California has a compelling interest in protecting the lives
and health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.
  SEC. 2.  Article 15 (commencing with Section 865) is added to
Chapter 1 of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, to
read:

      Article 15.  Sexual Orientation Change Efforts


   865.  For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:


   (a)
   "Informed consent" means consent that is voluntarily provided in
writing by a patient to a psychotherapist with whom the patient has a
therapeutic relationship. The informed consent must explicitly
manifest the patient's agreement to sexual orientation change efforts
and include a statement as set forth in Section 865.1. Consent that
is provided as a result of therapeutic deception or duress or
coercion is not informed consent.
   (b) "Psychotherapist" means a physician and surgeon specializing
in the practice of psychiatry, a psychologist, a psychological
assistant,  a psychiatric technician,  a marriage
and family therapist, a registered marriage and family therapist,
intern, or trainee, an educational psychologist, a licensed clinical
social worker, an associate clinical social worker, a licensed
professional clinical counselor, or a registered clinical counselor,
intern, or trainee.
   (c) "Psychotherapy" means the professional assessment, evaluation,
treatment, or counseling of a mental or emotional illness, symptom,
or condition by a psychotherapist.
   (d) "Sexual orientation change efforts" means psychotherapy aimed
at altering the sexual or romantic desires, attractions, or conduct
of a person toward people of the same sex so that the desire,
attraction, or conduct is eliminated or reduced or might instead be
directed toward people of a different sex. It does not include
psychotherapy aimed at altering sexual desires, attractions, or
conduct toward minors or relatives or regarding sexual activity with
another person without that person's consent.
   (e) "Therapeutic deception" means a representation by a
psychotherapist that sexual orientation change efforts are endorsed
by leading medical and mental health associations or that they can or
will reduce or eliminate a person's sexual or romantic desires,
attractions, or conduct toward another person of the same sex.
   (f) "Therapeutic relationship" means the relationship that exists
during the time the patient receives psychotherapy.
   (g) "Leading medical and mental health associations" means the
American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological
Association, the American Counseling Association, the National
Association of Social Workers, and the American Academy of
Pediatrics.
   865.1.  (a) No psychotherapist shall engage in sexual orientation
change efforts without first obtaining the patient's informed consent
to therapy as prescribed in subdivision (b).
   (b) To obtain informed consent, a treating psychotherapist shall
provide a patient with a form to be signed by the patient that
provides informed consent. The form shall include the following
statement:


   "Having a lesbian, gay, or bisexual sexual orientation is not a
mental disorder. There is no scientific evidence that any types of
therapies are effective in changing a person's sexual orientation.
Sexual orientation change efforts can be harmful. The risks include,
but are not limited to, depression, anxiety, and self-destructive
behavior.
   Medical and mental health associations that oppose the use of
sexual orientation change efforts include the American Medical
Association, the American Psychological Association, the American
Psychiatric Association, the National Association of Social Workers,
the American Counseling Association, the American Academy of
Pediatrics, and the American Association for Marriage and Family
Therapy."


   865.2.  (a) Under no circumstances shall a patient under 18 years
of age undergo sexual orientation change efforts, regardless of the
willingness of a patient's parent, guardian, conservator, or other
person to authorize such efforts.
   (b) The right to refuse sexual orientation change efforts is not
waived by giving informed consent and that consent may be withdrawn
at any time prior to, during, or between sessions of sexual
orientation change efforts.
   (c) Any act of duress or coercion by any person or facility shall
invalidate the patient's consent to sexual orientation change
efforts.
   865.3.  (a) (1) A cause of action may be brought against a
psychotherapist by a patient, former patient, or deceased former
patient's parent, child, or sibling if the sexual orientation change
efforts were conducted without first obtaining informed consent or by
means of therapeutic deception, or if the sexual orientation change
efforts were conducted on a patient who was under 18 years of age at
any point during the use of the sexual orientation change efforts.
   (2) The patient, former patient, or deceased former patient's
parent, child, or sibling may recover actual damages, or statutory
damages in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000), whichever is
greater, in addition to costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
   (3) The time for commencement of the action shall be within eight
years of the date the patient or former patient attains the age of
majority or within five years of the date the patient, former
patient, or deceased former patient's parent, child, or sibling
discovers or reasonably should have discovered that the patient was
subjected to sexual orientation change efforts in violation of this
article.
   (b) Nothing in this article precludes or limits the right of a
patient, former patient, or deceased former patient's parent, child,
or sibling to bring a civil action against a psychotherapist arising
from other legal claims.