With a new law taking effect July 1, Colorado is creating a legal pathway for people to sue licensed providers of “conversion therapy,” even as debate over the practice’s constitutionality continues in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Under House Bill 1322, individuals can bring a cause of action for claims of injury caused by providers of the controversial practice, which seeks to change someone’s sexuality or gender identity, within five years of the alleged harm.

“Conversation therapy is ineffective and has dangerous repercussions, and we’re creating a clear pathway for someone who is harmed by these practices to seek justice,” said sponsor Rep. Alex Valdez, D-Denver.

Opponents of House Bill 1322 argued it was unconstitutional and violated practitioners’ rights to free speech and freedom of religion.

“Licensed mental health providers with sincerely held religious beliefs who offer counseling to individuals according to those beliefs are punished by this bill, and that is the point of this bill — to punish those who disagree and to monitor therapists’ speech,” said Colleen Enos of Christian Home Educators of Colorado. “Painful interactions with faith do not justify making conversations illegal.”

The Colorado Union of Taxpayers also opposed the measure, arguing it “looks to intimidate any counseling that doesn’t adhere to the woke progressive narrative” and will have a “chilling effect on freedom of speech.”

In March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to overturn Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy on minors after a Colorado Springs counselor challenged its constitutionality.

“The First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech in this country,” Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority. “It reflects instead a judgment that every American possesses an inalienable right to think and speak freely, and a faith in the free marketplace of ideas as the best means for discovering truth. However well-intentioned, any law that suppresses speech based on viewpoint represents an ‘egregious’ assault on both of those commitments.”

House Bill 1322 is not impacted by the Supreme Court ruling.

The measure passed on a 40-23 vote in the House and a 23-12 vote in the Senate and was signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis on June 1.

In his signing statement, Polis said conversion therapy is “harmful, can traumatize kids and is a scam to waste people’s hard-earned money.”

The same day, Polis signed an executive order prohibiting the use of state funds for conversion therapy.

“It is critical that Coloradans know their tax dollars are not going to services that are a scam and can be harmful,” he wrote in the order. “Through this Executive Order, I am ensuring that funding allocated by our State Agencies is spent wisely and used only for evidence-based treatment.”