The Christian Institute (CI) has called on the British government to abandon its attempts to pass a law against so-called 'conversion therapy', stating that any such law would either be unworkable and could end up criminalising medical professionals.
In a report submitted to the government, the CI said that existing laws are sufficient to deal with genuine cases of abuse or coercion, and that demands for a new specific law are motivated by activism rather than a genuine concern for victims.
The CI noted that the kind of law that LGBT activists have demanded would involve criminalising parents, doctors and religious leaders simply for having conversations or praying with or for a person.
According to the report, “They [LGBT activists] don’t want a traditional criminal law to prevent objectively abusive behaviour. Instead, they want a broad ‘speech crime’ law to catch the everyday activities of church leaders and parents who do not affirm LGBTQ ideology.”
By agreeing to these demands while also expressing a desire to uphold the right to religious freedom and for families to have open discussions, the government has created an impossible task for itself, the CI suggests.
In its report the CI gave examples of other jurisdictions which have attempted to introduce bans on conversion therapy. Sweden, the Netherlands, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland were all looked at.
The common theme is that what constitutes 'conversion therapy' is very difficult to accurately define legally and risks criminalising innocent behaviour like praying or having a conversation. Legal reviews often reveal that objectionable practices that activists say they wish to ban are in fact already illegal.
The report concludes, “The UK Government now faces a choice: continue with a project that even many ‘progressive’ governments are beginning to see is a dead end, or consider seriously how individuals reporting genuine abuse can be better protected under existing law.”
