I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2450 
To prohibit, as an unfair and deceptive act or practice, commercial sexual 
orientation conversion therapy, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 19, 2015 
Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Ms. PELOSI, Mrs. DAVIS of Cali-
fornia, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. FARR, Mr. PETERS, Ms. HAHN, Mrs. WATSON 
COLEMAN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. 
TAKANO, Mr. RUSH, Mr. WELCH, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. LEE, 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRI-
JALVA, Mr. GUTIE´RREZ, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 
LEWIS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. SEAN PAT-
RICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. CLARK 
of Massachusetts, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. SPEIER, and Mr. HONDA) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce 
A BILL 
To prohibit, as an unfair and deceptive act or practice, 
commercial sexual orientation conversion therapy, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Therapeutic Fraud 
Prevention Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or 
gender nonconforming is not a disorder, disease, ill-
ness, deficiency, or shortcoming; 
(2) the national community of professionals in 
education, social work, health, mental health, and 
counseling has determined that there is no scientif-
ically valid evidence for attempting to prevent a per-
son from being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 
or gender nonconforming; 
(3) such professionals have determined that 
there is no evidence that conversion therapy is effec-
tive or that an individual’s sexual orientation or gen-
der identity can be changed by conversion therapy; 
(4) such professionals have also determined 
that the potential risks of conversion therapy are not 
only that it is ineffective, but also substantially dan-
gerous to an individuals’s mental and physical 
health, and has been shown to contribute to depres-
sion, self-harm, low self-esteem, family rejection, and 
suicide; and 
(5) it is in the interest of the Nation to make 
sure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
people and their families are not defrauded by per-
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sons seeking to profit by offering this harmful and 
wholly ineffective therapy. 
SEC. 3. UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES RE-
LATED TO CONVERSION THERAPY. 
(a) UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—It shall be unlawful for 
any person to— 
(1) provide conversion therapy to any individual 
if such person receives monetary compensation in ex-
change for such services; or 
(2) advertise for the provision of conversion 
therapy where such advertising claims— 
(A) to change another individual’s sexual 
orientation or gender identity; 
(B) to eliminate or reduce sexual or ro-
mantic attractions or feelings toward individ-
uals of the same gender; or 
(C) that such efforts are harmless or with-
out risk to individuals receiving such therapy. 
(b) VIOLATION OF RULE.—A violation of subsection 
(a) shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining an 
unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under section 
18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 
U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 
(c) POWERS OF COMMISSION.—The Commission shall 
enforce this section in the same manner, by the same 
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means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties 
as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Fed-
eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were 
incorporated into and made a part of this Act. Any person 
who violates subsection (a) shall be subject to the penalties 
and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in 
the Federal Trade Commission Act. 
SEC. 4. CONVERSION THERAPY DEFINED. 
The term ‘‘conversion therapy’’— 
(1) means any practices or treatments by any 
person that seek to change another individual’s sex-
ual orientation or gender identity, including efforts 
to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to 
eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or 
feelings toward individuals of the same gender if 
such person receives monetary compensation in ex-
change for such services; and 
(2) does not include practices that— 
(A) provide assistance to an individual un-
dergoing a gender transition, or 
(B) provide acceptance, support, and un-
derstanding of clients or facilitation of clients’ 
coping, social support, and identity exploration 
and development, including sexual orientation- 
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neutral interventions to prevent or address un-
lawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices, 
so long as such efforts do not seek to change sexual 
orientation or gender identity. 
SEC. 5. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 
provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be un-
constitutional, the remainder of this Act, and its applica-
tion to any person or circumstance shall not be affected 
thereby. 
Æ 
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