Sex Conversion in Minors.

   I should be old enough now not to be upset by the "March of the Moran's" but when these idiots insist there are more than two sexes and innumerable genders I do get upset.   When they insist that  THEY and not the parents should be the final arbiters of their children's  health then I really fear for the future of the so-called 'civilized world'.  Some parents are prepared to let the idiots prevail.  I really don't care what the idiots believe, I get upset that people take what they have to say seriously.   As always, George Orwell summed up the situation eloquently with the following statement: "Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them."  That was true enough at the time, but now even the illiterate believe them and are stupid enough to try to destroy a civilization for ideas that any high school graduate of fifty years ago could reason through.    I have recently heard  the 

"understanding of choice (comprehension of the risks, benefits, and alternatives to the selection).51 Legal analysis, on the other hand, would conclude that competency to consent, as a minor, involves the capability to appreciate the “nature, extent, and probable consequences of the proposed treatments or procedures.”52 The results of Weithorn and Campbell’s study showed that, in general, minors at age fourteen are able to express competency equal to that of adults.53 Even minors at age nine, while not as competent as adults with respect to their ability to reason about and understand treatment information, are able to express “clear and sensible treatment preferences” comparable to those of adults.54 Minors at age nine focus on sensible and important reasons when making treatment decisions, suggesting that they are qualified to participate significantly in making health care decisions about themselves.55 While the results of this study are helpful in showing the issues of the legal bright-line classification of age of majority to consent, the results might not be one hundred percent reflective of the actual decision-making of adolescents faced with true medical dilemmas.56 Minors tested in this study were healthy individuals asked about hypothetical medical situations; they were not influenced by a current medical diagnosis or psychological situation, or the factors that might accompany such circumstances, and, in turn, lead to a decreased ability to make a decision.57 Overall, the findings of Weithorn and Campbell’s study do not support the legal denial of adolescents in making health-related decisions on a presumption of incompetency.58 Sometimes legally minor children are capable of making a competent decision on their own, leaving reason to challenge the current legal age, as it deprives mature and abled youths of the ability to exercise the rights that adults are 50. Lois A. Weithorn & Susan B. Campbell, The Competency of Children and Adolescents to Make Informed Treatment Decisions, 53 Child Dev. 1589 (1982) (study comparing the competency of groups of ages nine, fourteen, eighteen, and twenty-one)

.Conclusion All medical, psychological, and counseling professionals are to follow a code of ethics. Psychiatrists are to be “dedicated to providing competent medical care, with compassion and respect for human dignity and rights.”172 Social workers’ primary responsibility is to promote the well-being of clients.173 Psychologists are to do no harm. 174 Marriage and family therapists are to advance the welfare of families and individuals.175 However, the treatment and results of conversion therapy to change sexual orientation do not seem to follow these ethical guidelines.176 Conversion therapy has been denounced by all major medical organizations because it claims to “cure” something that is not a disease or illness.177 The serious risks posed by the so-called treatments outweigh any positives that might possibly be considered.178 As such, California is taking the proper steps toward protecting today’s youth from harm.179 Even if an appeal to the United States Supreme Court is 171. See S.B. 1172, 2012 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2012) (codified at Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 865.1 (2012)); see also Am. Psychological Ass’n, supra note 37. 172. The Principles of Med. Ethics 2 (Am. Psychiatric Ass’n 2013), www.psychiatry.org/ File%20Library/Practice/Ethics%20Documents/principles2013--final.pdf 173. Code of Ethics of the Nat’l Ass’n of Soc. Workers (Nat’l Ass’n of Soc. Workers 2008), http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp. 174. Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct 3 (Am. Psychological Ass’n 2010), http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/principles.pdf. 175. See, e.g., Mary Jo Zygmond & Harriet Boorhem, Ethical Decision Making in Family Therapy, 28 Fam. Process 269 (1989), http://www.mftcourses.net/var/www/mftcourses/documents/zygmond%20borhem%2089.pdf. 176. See supra notes 9–11 and accompanying text. 177. See supra text accompanying notes 27, 30–33. 178. See supra text accompanying notes 36–37. 179. See S.B. 1172, 2012 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2012) (codified at Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 865.1 (2012)). 269 Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality Volume 2, Issue 1 successful, adjustments can be made to make the legislation legal, as there is absolutely no reason why there should not be restraints on the availability of conversion therapy, especially for minors.180 First and foremost, the adolescent should have a say in the decision to receive any kind of treatment.181 “[A] child may provide effective consent if he or she is capable of appreciating the nature, extent, and probable consequences of the proposed treatments or procedures.”182 But, no child should unwillingly be forced into conversion therapy by his or her parents.183 Parents should utilize an authoritative model of parenting, where they listen to the child and take the child’s opinion into consideration before making a decision.184 This is the healthiest model of parental control and influence over children.185 Homosexuality is not a disease or illness; it cannot be cured. Thus, conversion therapy should be banned. As Ryan Kendall said in the summer of 2012: I never believed [I could be fixed]. I know I’m gay just like I know I’m short and I’m half Hispanic. I’ve never thought that those facts would change. It’s part of my core fundamental identity. So the parallel would be sending me to tall camp and saying, ‘If you try very hard, one day you can be 6-foot-1.’186 Ryan Kendall’s story is not the only tragedy of conversion therapy. There are numerous examples available, all of which claim the same thing: you cannot change who you are. 180. See supra Part III. 181. See Part III.D. 182. Weithorn & Campbell, supra note 50, at 1590 (referencing the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1979)). 183. See supra text accompanying note 157. 184. See Laurence Steinberg, Julie D. Elmen & Nina S. Mounts, Authoritative Parenting, Psychological Maturity, and Academic Success Among Adolescents, 60 Child Dev. 1424, 1433 (1989). 185. See id. at 1425 (comparing authoritative parenting to the authoritarian and permissive models). 186. Levs, supra note 98 (quotin

AMA supports state and federal bans on conversion therapy.
Ability to bring child to therapist for that purpose.
AMA voted in favour of pushing federal legislation banning psyis & p'ologists from informing children that they are the sex of their birth.