HARRISBURG – Governor Tom Wolf today signed an executive order that seeks to limit speech, hindering the ability of counselors and therapists to help their patients, and threatens to punish those with convictions on sexuality and gender that differ from the governor’s. Jeremy Samek, Senior Counsel at the Pennsylvania Family Institute says, “Individuals deserve, on an equal basis, the professional help they want to reduce or cope with unwanted sexual desires in the same way any other person seeking counseling for other unwanted or hard-to-control desires.” He added that the U.S. Supreme Court strongly suggests that counseling bans violate the constitutional rights of clients and their counselors. A recent peer-reviewed study published in “Frontiers of Psychology” in February 2022 by Dr. Paul Sullins revealed that counseling reduced harm attributed to elevated stress, and suicidal behavior decreased for those who received such counseling compared to those who did not receive such counseling.
JEREMY SAMEK