In Michigan, Catholic counselors and families seeking compassionate but honest talk therapy for children suffering from gender dysphoria received a major win from a federal court.
Michigan’s HB 4616 became law in 2023 with Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s signature. The law stated that mental health professionals were prohibited from engaging in “conversion therapy with a minor,” which, as specified in an accompanying bill, is defined as “any practice or treatment by a mental health professional that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.”
In July of 2024, Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee, and Hillsdale Counties filed a lawsuit in federal court.
Initially, the case was denied at the district level, but in December 2025, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 granted an injunction in favor of Catholic Charities. A favorable March 2026 decision from the US Supreme Court in the separate but similar Chiles v. Salazar case out of Colorado led Catholic Charities and the state of Michigan to reach a formal agreement ordered by the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
This July 30 federal court order declared that Michigan’s “HB 4616, as applied to licensed mental health professionals engaged in therapy that consists exclusively of talking, violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution” and prohibits the state from persecuting counselors who engage exclusively in talk therapy.
Further, the state has been ordered to pay the attorneys for Catholic Charities $750,000.
Catholic Charities was represented by attorneys from the Becket Fund, a religious liberty group. Upon news of the court order, lead attorney Luke Goodrich said, “This is a major victory for children, counselors, and common sense. Kids who are hurting deserve compassion, not a one-way ticket to harmful drugs, hormones, and surgery. Now counselors can offer compassionate counseling without fearing that state bureaucrats will come knocking.”
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