Pennsylvania Equality Project - Ban Conversion Therapy Efforts

from Pennsylvania Equality Project

Pennsylvania Equality Project (PEP) is counting on Erie County, and our US Congress to take action that our General Assembly in Harrisburg has failed to address. We seek a ban on the use of conversion therapy on minors by health care professionals in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Ideally, a ban would exist statewide.

Already, the cities of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Allentown, Reading, Doylestown Borough, and now State College have banned the practice within their respective jurisdictions. See the online version of this article for a link from the Centre Daily Times that addresses what the ban is, and why it was imposed.

Conversion therapy is abuse, and is considered unacceptable and dangerous practice by the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, the National Association of Social Workers, and the National Education Association, among other professional bodies across the United States.

While Pennsylvania awaits the legislature's passage of House Bill 1177 and Senate Bill 44, we hope that the Erie County Council will pass the first countywide ban in Pennsylvania and show the rest of the Commonwealth how progressive Erie County is.