Legislation | The coalition MP does not want to prepare a ban on reintegration treatments – the youth organization criticizes

The coalition first-term Member of Parliament Mari Kaunistola has received criticism from Helsinki’s Kokoomusnuori for his position on rehabilitation treatments, says Yle.

Kaunistola has not supported the prohibition of integration treatments by law. He proposed that the preparation of the law banning the treatments would not be started.

Disintegration treatments are psychological methods that try to change representatives of sexual minorities into heterosexuals.

The banning of disintegration treatments is now being discussed in the parliament, as the citizens’ initiative demanding a ban was able to collect more than 50,000 signatures.

Helsinki Kokoumusnoet tells in its announcement that he was surprised and disappointed that the member of parliament does not support the general line of the party.

Kaunistola tells Yle that she condemns the methods of integration treatments together with her party, but she believes that the matter should be progressed in stages. According to what he said, in Norway, it has been decided to criminalize rehabilitation treatments after investigations, but not in Sweden, for example.

At the same time, he says that criminal legal remedies are of last resort, and criminal laws are required to be precise and precise.

Destruction treatments there has been a lot of public talk about the disadvantages. For example Finnish Psychological Association considers integration to be unethical, harmful and contradictory to current psychological science.

According to Kaunistola, the matter should be progressed step by step by finding out what kind of problem integration treatments cause in Finland and to what extent they can already be dealt with under the section of the Criminal Code, Yle says.

Last August HS interviewed specialist in psychiatry Peppi Sieverswho says that about a quarter of his patients have developmental traumas related to their experiences of ostracism and community homophobia.

Destruction treatments a ban was demanded by a citizens’ initiative already in 2021.

The initiator of the initiative Perttu Jussila (green) stated at the time In an interview with HS, that rehabilitation treatments involve serious violence that can be deeply traumatizing. The people responsible for the initiative also included, among others Fatim Diarra (green).

The citizens’ initiative of 2021 also eventually progressed to the parliament, but lapsed because it was not discussed before the end of the election period in the spring of 2023.

Also in the recent bulletin of Kokoomusnuorten, it is stated that rehabilitation treatments cause serious harm to individuals, especially young people.

Advocating for the denial of treatments should also not be a matter of conscience, states a member of the Federation Youth Board Mona Leino in the bulletin.