Push To Ban Controversial "Anti-Gay" Therapy Introduced In Congress
WASHINGTON, DC (CBS) - New Jersey is one of a few states in this country where so-called "conversion therapy" -- which is touted as a way to make gay people straight -- is banned.
Now there's a push to do that across the country.
Eighteen Democratic senators have co-sponsored what's called the "Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act."
One of them is New Jersey junior Senator Cory Booker, who says the controversial practice of "conversion therapy" is wrong on several fronts:
"This is just something that is a fraud to consumers. It is something that can actually cause harm to those people involved. It risks harm and it's something that should be stopped."
The Federal Trade Commission would be charged with enforcing the ban on the practice, which has been repudiated by the American Psychological Association.
"It's to protect people from being swindled from their money and really end what I think is a chapter in our country where people's sexual orientation was treated as some kind of disease, or worse, to be prevented," Booker said.
He concedes the proposal does not enjoy bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, but he hopes to convince majority Republicans that the ban just makes sense.
