II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 928 

To prohibit, as an unfair or deceptive act or practice, commercial sexual 

orientation conversion therapy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2017 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, 

Ms. HASSAN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. MURPHY, 

Mr. LEAHY, Mr. CASEY, Mr. FRANKEN, Ms. HARRIS, and Mr. DURBIN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To prohibit, as an unfair or deceptive act or practice, commercial sexual orientation conversion therapy, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Therapeutic Fraud 

5 Prevention Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or 

2 gender nonconforming is not a disorder, disease, ill3 ness, deficiency, or shortcoming. 

4 (2) The national community of professionals in 

5 education, social work, health, mental health, and 

6 counseling has determined that there is no scientif7 ically valid evidence that supports the practice of at8 tempting to prevent a person from being lesbian, 

9 gay, bisexual, transgender, or gender nonconforming. 

10 (3) Such professionals have determined that 

11 there is no evidence that conversion therapy is effec12 tive or that an individual’s sexual orientation or gen13 der identity can be changed by conversion therapy. 

14 (4) Such professionals have also determined 

15 that the potential risks of conversion therapy are not 

16 only that it is ineffective, but also that it is substan17 tially dangerous to an individual’s mental and phys18 ical health, and has been shown to contribute to de19 pression, self-harm, low self-esteem, family rejection, 

20 and suicide. 

21 (5) It is in the interest of the Nation to prevent 

22 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender non23 conforming people and their families from being de24 frauded by persons seeking to profit by offering this 

25 harmful and wholly ineffective therapy. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) CONVERSION THERAPY.—The term ‘‘conver4 sion therapy’’— 

5 (A) means any practice or treatment by 

6 any person that seeks to change another indi7 vidual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, 

8 including efforts to change behaviors or gender 

9 expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or 

10 romantic attractions or feelings toward individ11 uals of the same gender, if such person receives 

12 monetary compensation in exchange for such 

13 practices or treatments; and 

14 (B) does not include any practice or treat15 ment, which does not seek to change sexual ori16 entation or gender identity, that— 

17 (i) provides assistance to an individual 

18 undergoing a gender transition; or 

19 (ii) provides acceptance, support, and 

20 understanding of a client or facilitation of 

21 a client’s coping, social support, and iden22 tity exploration and development, including 

23 sexual orientation-neutral interventions to 

24 prevent or address unlawful conduct or un25 safe sexual practices. 


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1 (2) GENDER IDENTITY.—The term ‘‘gender 

2 identity’’ means the gender-related identity, appear3 ance, mannerisms, or other gender-related character4 istics of an individual, regardless of the individual’s 

5 designated sex at birth. 

6 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any 

7 individual, partnership, corporation, cooperative, as8 sociation, or any other entity. 

9 (4) SEXUAL ORIENTATION.—The term ‘‘sexual 

10 orientation’’ means homosexuality, heterosexuality, 

11 or bisexuality. 

12 SEC. 4. UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES RE13 LATED TO CONVERSION THERAPY. 

14 (a) UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—It shall be unlawful for 

15 any person— 

16 (1) to provide conversion therapy to any indi17 vidual if such person receives compensation in ex18 change for such services; 

19 (2) to advertise for the provision of conversion 

20 therapy and claim in such advertising— 

21 (A) to change another individual’s sexual 

22 orientation or gender identity; 

23 (B) to eliminate or reduce sexual or ro24 mantic attractions or feelings toward individ25 uals of the same gender; or 


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1 (C) that such efforts are harmless or with2 out risk to individuals receiving such therapy; 

3 or 

4 (3) to knowingly assist or facilitate the provi5 sion of conversion therapy to an individual if such 

6 person receives compensation from any source in 

7 connection with providing conversion therapy. 

8 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS9 SION.— 

10 (1) VIOLATION OF RULE.—A violation of sub11 section (a) shall be treated as a violation of a rule 

12 defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice pre13 scribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal 

14 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

15 (2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Trade 

17 Commission shall enforce this section in the 

18 same manner, by the same means, and with the 

19 same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though 

20 all applicable terms and provisions of the Fed21 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 

22 seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of 

23 this Act. 

24 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any 

25 person who violates subsection (a) shall be subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Apr 25, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S928.IS S928

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1 ject to the penalties, and entitled to the privi2 leges and immunities, provided in the Federal 

3 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 

4 (3) REGULATIONS.—The Federal Trade Com5 mission may promulgate, in accordance with section 

6 553 of title 5, United States Code, such regulations 

7 as the Commission considers appropriate to carry 

8 out this section. 

9 (c) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the attorney general of a 

11 State has reason to believe that an interest of the 

12 residents of the State has been or is being threat13 ened or adversely affected by a practice that violates 

14 subsection (a), the attorney general of the State 

15 may, as parens patriae, bring a civil action on behalf 

16 of the residents of the State in an appropriate dis17 trict court of the United States to obtain appro18 priate relief. 

19 (2) RIGHTS OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS20 SION.— 

21 (A) NOTICE TO FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS22 SION.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

24 in clause (iii), the attorney general of a 

25 State, before initiating a civil action under 


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1 paragraph (1), shall provide written notifi2 cation to the Federal Trade Commission 

3 that the attorney general intends to bring 

4 such civil action. 

5 (ii) CONTENTS.—The notification re6 quired under clause (i) shall include a copy 

7 of the complaint to be filed to initiate the 

8 civil action. 

9 (iii) EXCEPTION.—If it is not feasible 

10 for the attorney general of a State to pro11 vide the notification required under clause 

12 (i) before initiating a civil action under 

13 paragraph (1), the attorney general shall 

14 notify the Commission immediately upon 

15 instituting the civil action. 

16 (B) INTERVENTION BY FEDERAL TRADE

17 COMMISSION.—The Commission may— 

18 (i) intervene in any civil action 

19 brought by the attorney general of a State 

20 under paragraph (1); and 

21 (ii) upon intervening— 

22 (I) be heard on all matters aris23 ing in the civil action; and 

24 (II) file petitions for appeal of a 

25 decision in the civil action. 


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1 (3) INVESTIGATORY POWERS.—Nothing in this 

2 subsection may be construed to prevent the attorney 

3 general of a State from exercising the powers con4 ferred on the attorney general by the laws of the 

5 State to conduct investigations, to administer oaths 

6 or affirmations, or to compel the attendance of wit7 nesses or the production of documentary or other 

8 evidence. 

9 (4) PREEMPTIVE ACTION BY FEDERAL TRADE

10 COMMISSION.—If the Federal Trade Commission in11 stitutes a civil action or an administrative action 

12 with respect to a violation of subsection (a), the at13 torney general of a State may not, during the pend14 ency of such action, bring a civil action under para15 graph (1) against any defendant named in the com16 plaint of the Commission for the violation with re17 spect to which the Commission instituted such ac18 tion. 

19 (5) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 

20 (A) VENUE.—Any action brought under 

21 paragraph (1) may be brought in— 

22 (i) the district court of the United 

23 States that meets applicable requirements 

24 relating to venue under section 1391 of 

25 title 28, United States Code; or 


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1 (ii) another court of competent juris2 diction. 

3 (B) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action 

4 brought under paragraph (1), process may be 

5 served in any district in which— 

6 (i) the defendant is an inhabitant, 

7 may be found, or transacts business; or 

8 (ii) venue is proper under section 

9 1391 of title 28, United States Code. 

10 (6) ACTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFICIALS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to a civil 

12 action brought by an attorney general under 

13 paragraph (1), any other officer of a State who 

14 is authorized by the State to do so may bring 

15 a civil action under paragraph (1), subject to 

16 the same requirements and limitations that 

17 apply under this subsection to civil actions 

18 brought by attorneys general. 

19 (B) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this 

20 subsection may be construed to prohibit an au21 thorized official of a State from initiating or 

22 continuing any proceeding in a court of the 

23 State for a violation of any civil or criminal law 

24 of the State. 


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1 SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 

2 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 

3 provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be un4 constitutional, the remainder of this Act, and its applica5 tion to any person or circumstance shall not be affected 

6 thereby. 

Æ 


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