Parents and Counsellors Defy New State Ban

A new wave of “conversion therapy” bans in Wisconsin is colliding head‑on with Christian counselors’ First Amendment rights and parents’ authority to seek faith‑based help for their kids.

Story Snapshot

Two Christian counselors and a La Crosse therapist are in federal court arguing Wisconsin’s conversion‑therapy bans censor what they can say behind closed doors with willing clients.
A recent Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling shifted power to the governor and cleared the way for a statewide ban, sidelining the elected Legislature.
Backers say the rules protect minors; critics warn they outlaw biblical counseling and label traditional Christian teaching as “unprofessional conduct.”
The fight sits at the center of a national clash over free speech, religious liberty, and government control of the counseling profession.

Courtroom Clash: Counselors Say Government Is Policing Their Words

Two Christian counselors in Wisconsin have filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the state’s new conversion‑therapy rule and local bans reach into their private conversations with clients and violate their free‑speech rights. One counselor, Terry Koschnick, says government officials should not be allowed to police what he tells people who voluntarily seek him out for Christian counseling on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The suit seeks a federal injunction blocking enforcement while courts weigh the First Amendment claims.

A separate federal lawsuit targets La Crosse’s Ordinance 552, a local “conversion therapy” ban that allegedly prevents licensed counselor Joy Buchman from offering guidance consistent with both her professional judgment and Christian beliefs.^[1] Wisconsin Family Council reports that the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty represents her, arguing the measure censors ordinary talk therapy, not just abusive practices.^[1] The plaintiffs frame the bans as viewpoint discrimination that punishes one side of the moral and religious conversation about sexuality.

Statewide Rule: Licensing Board Labels Traditional Counseling ‘Unprofessional’

The legal battle escalated after Wisconsin’s professional licensing board for therapists, counselors, and social workers pushed a statewide rule treating conversion‑therapy methods as “unprofessional conduct.”^[2] According to reporting on the rulemaking, the board’s proposal effectively forbids licensed professionals from counseling clients with the goal of changing sexual orientation or gender identity, even when clients request help aligning their feelings with their faith or biological sex.^[2] That regulatory move set up a direct conflict between professional gatekeepers and religious counselors.

Supporters of the ban, including social‑work advocates, argue that conversion therapy is harmful and discredited, and that the rule is needed to protect vulnerable minors from depression, self‑harm, and other serious outcomes.^[2] They portray the policy as a standard‑of‑care measure, not ideological policing. Opponents counter that the broad definition sweeps in peaceful, consensual conversations and prayer, and allows bureaucrats to punish counselors simply for affirming traditional Christian teachings on marriage and gender.^[1]^[3] That tension over what counts as “harm” lies at the heart of the dispute.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Ruling Tips Power Toward Governor and Regulators

While these federal suits advance, a separate decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court has already changed the playing field in Madison. On July 8, the court held that a Republican‑controlled legislative committee overstepped when it repeatedly blocked the licensing board’s conversion‑therapy rule during Governor Tony Evers’ administration.^[2] The majority said the committee’s actions amounted to an unconstitutional “legislative veto” that infringed on the governor’s role in putting administrative rules into effect.^[2]

The ruling sharply curtails the Legislature’s ability to stop rules coming out of the executive branch and professional boards, and it clears the way for a permanent statewide conversion‑therapy ban.^[2] Chief Justice Jill Karofsky, writing for the court’s four liberal justices, concluded that lawmakers had been taking “action that alters the legal rights and duties of the executive branch and the people of Wisconsin” without passing a full bill.^[2] For many conservatives, that decision is troubling because it strengthens unelected regulators at the expense of the elected Legislature.

Free Speech, Parental Rights, and the National Culture Fight

The Wisconsin counselors’ lawsuits are part of a wider national clash over whether the government can regulate counseling about sexuality as professional “conduct” or whether those sessions are protected speech.^[3] Opponents of conversion‑therapy bans argue that when states forbid counselors from helping clients pursue a traditional view of sexuality, they are not banning a medical procedure, but outlawing one side of a moral and religious debate.^[3] That argument leans on recent Supreme Court decisions warning states not to sidestep the First Amendment by relabeling speech as professional regulation.

A conservative law firm filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn a ban on conversion therapy in Wisconsin. https://t.co/2SWQWNHZVQ

— The Post-Crescent (@PostCrescent) May 13, 2026

Supporters of bans respond that the state has a duty to protect minors from interventions they say are ineffective and associated with mental‑health harms, and insist that no amount of talk therapy can change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity.^[2] The result is a deep cultural standoff. For Wisconsin families who want faith‑based counseling, these new rules raise a hard question: will the state respect parents’ right to seek Christian guidance for their children, or will bureaucrats decide which beliefs are allowed in the counseling room?