STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2550
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 270
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Twenty-Ninth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2018
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 270 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MINORS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit persons licensed to provide professional counseling from engaging in, attempting to engage in, or advertising sexual orientation change efforts on persons under eighteen years of age.
Your Committee
received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor;
Department of Health; Oahu County Committee, Legislative Priorities Committee
of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Kupuna Caucus of the Democratic
Party of Hawai‘i; LGBT
Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Hawaii State Teachers Association;
National Association of Social Workers – Hawai‘i Chapter;
Hawaii Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists;
Americans for Democratic Action; Hawai‘i Friends of Civil Rights;
IMUAlliance; Young Progressives Demanding Action – Hawaii; Save Medicaid Hawaii;
Filipina Advocacy Network; Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii;
National Center for Lesbian Rights; Hawaii LGBT Legal Association; Hawaii
Children's Action Network; Hawai‘i Psychological Association; Hawaii
Youth Services Network; Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ; and eighty
individuals. Your Committee
received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii
Family Forum, Honolulu County Republican Party, Hawaii Catholic Conference, and
fourteen individuals. Your
Committee received comments on this measure from the Regulated Industries Complaints
Office of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and League of Women
Voters.
Your Committee finds
that according to the American Psychological Association, sexual orientation
change efforts, also known as conversion therapy, tend to do more harm than
good. Children and adolescents who
participate in these types of interventions, which often use fear-based
techniques, are given inaccurate scientific information regarding sexual
orientation and gender identity and are also at risk of increased self-stigma
and psychological distress. Participants
in sexual orientation change efforts report many negative consequences from
these interventions including anger, anxiety, depression, guilt, hopelessness,
loss of social support, relationship problems with significant others and
families, social isolation, suicidal thoughts, self-hatred, and sexual
dysfunction.
Your Committee additionally
finds that all the leading professional organizations involved in the treatment
of children have issued statements opposing sexual orientation change efforts,
including the American Psychological Association, American Medical Association,
American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychiatric Association, and National Association
of Social Workers. Furthermore, the American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has found that "reparative
therapy aimed to change sexual orientation by provoking guilt and anxiety to
shame those who do not identify as heterosexual is ineffective and
harmful", while the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
recently issued a policy statement noting that these types of "'conversion
therapies' (or other interventions imposed with the intent of promoting a
particular sexual orientation and/or gender as a preferred outcome) lack
scientific credibility and clinical utility" and can be harmful.
Your Committee further
finds that more states have taken action to protect lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender youth from the harmful practices associated with sexual
orientation change efforts, including California, Connecticut, Illinois,
Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and
the District of Columbia. According to
testimony received by your Committee, although similar state laws have been
challenged in court on constitutional grounds, these bans on sexual orientation
change efforts have been upheld. Your
Committee notes that the Supreme Court of the United States has declined to
consider cases challenging similar laws, including turning away a challenge to
New Jersey's law in 2015. Most recently,
in May 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States let stand a lower court's
ruling that California's ban was constitutional and neither impinged upon free
exercise of religion nor impacted the activities of clergy members.
Your Committee also
finds that this measure does not hinder counselors, health care providers,
mental health providers, clergy, or parents from speaking to lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender children and adolescents. Rather, this measure regulates the conduct of
state-licensed persons who provide professional counseling to minors under the
age of eighteen, similar to existing consumer protection laws designed to
protect the public against ineffective and unsafe treatment by Hawaii-licensed
professionals.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Specifically identifying the state-licensed professionals who are prohibited from engaging in, attempting to engage in, or advertising sexual orientation change efforts, including physicians, especially those practicing psychiatry; psychologists; nurses; social workers; licensed mental health counselors; or licensed marriage and family therapists;
(2) Clarifying that the term "sexual orientation change efforts" includes efforts to change gender identity or gender expressions and behaviors; and
(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 270, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 270, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,
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________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair |
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