Medical care isn’t just tests and procedures. It’s discussing diagnoses, chatting about health behaviors and conducting psychotherapy. Legally, speech related to medical care has been considered conduct, so it’s subject to state laws that regulate the practice of medicine.
But on March 31, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that some speech related to medical care is different. In ruling on Chiles v. Salazar, an 8 to 1 majority wrote that talk therapy is speech, not conduct. Therefore, regulation of a therapist’s speech could run afoul of the First Amendment, which protects free speech. Specifically, the case looks at whether talk-based “conversion therapy” for minors can be prohibited. This practice,