Religious exemption from regulations of therapists in Texas

[Robin Charlow]

Isn't it a kind of therapy, albeit a religiously-based one?  If the
state can regulate "medical" therapies, such as drug prescription and
surgery, including those that are religiously-based, can't it similarly
regulate religiously-based psychological therapies?  I can see the
danger in the latter, but not the distinction.


Robin Charlow
Hofstra University School of Law
Hempstead, New York  11549
email: lawrdc at hofstra.edu
phone (516) 463-5166

>>> Michael McConnell <mcconnellm at LAW.UTAH.EDU> 09/16/00 07:06PM >>>
As I understand the Texas drug treatment issue, it is not about funding
but
about exemption from licensure requirements. (If I am wrong about
that,
treat this as a hypothetical.) Some have wondered whether the exemption
is
unconstitutional. I am wondering whether it is constitutionally
required. As
I understand it, these churches believe that religious conversion can
cure
drug dependency. This looks like a religious ministry. Can the state
tell
them that they cannot engage in this activity, or publicize it, without
a
license? Obviously, if they were administering drugs (e.g., methadone),
or
performing medical operations, the state could license that -- but so
long
as all they do is to convert people and help to to stop sinning, can
the
state forbid it on the ground that it is a kind of therapy?

Michael McConnell
University of Utah College of Law
332 South 1400 East Rm. 101
Salt Lake City, UT 84112