France: Psychologist Warns New Draft Law on "Conversion-Therapy" Would Breach Parental Rights
The French parliament has unanimously supported the proposed legislation to ban the so-called "conversion therapy". The law would have penalties from prison sentences up to 2 years, to fines that can reach 30,000€ for those to attempt to change someone's sexual orientation. The fines and prison sentences go even higher if the case involves a minor or vulnerable person. While the draft law claims to make illegal abusive practices that have - fortunately - never occurred in France and are already punishable by law, Christians and psychiatrists worry that the real aim of the law is to prohibit any reflection or questioning on the wishes expressed by young people who are insecure about their sexual identity. It would prohibit parents from objecting to the prescription of hormones for young people asking to make a transition or professionals who would recommend psychotherapy to help these people in their struggle. The draft is awaiting to be debated in the upper house of parliament.
The Health Minister stated, "conversion therapies are deplorable (...) and cause terrible suffering" and tweeted the hashtag "RienÀGuérir", which means "Nothing to Cure", expressing strong support for the draft law.
The psychologist Christian Flavingny explained that the draft law text says it will prohibit practices such as "healing courses, humiliation sessions, hypnosis, electroshock treatments, forced marriages, confinement, food deprivation, beatings and violence, rape, and even excision, prescriptions of anxiolytics, antidepressants, injection of hormones". Some of these practices are known from England until 1967, but they have never occurred in France and are definitely already unlawful, due to their abusive manner.
Flavingny writes: "Insidiously, the prohibition concerns a completely different subject; it is a question of prohibiting any reflection on the wishes expressed by young people who feel they are the other sex, both the reflection of parents who would object to the prescription of hormones to young people asking to begin their "transition" and that of professionals who would resort to "psychotherapy"; this amounts to disqualifying the parents and insulting the professionals."
Source: Euronews, LeFigaro, Aleteia, La Croix
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