(REUTERS) The U.S. physicians’ group the American Medical Association announced on Tuesday it would begin supporting a ban on so-called conversion therapy, as well as working toward more inclusive healthcare record-keeping for transgender patients.

Conversion therapy, now widely discredited, is rooted in the belief that LGBT+ people have a mental illness which can be cured through psychological, spiritual, or in extreme cases physical means.

“It is clear to the AMA that the conversion therapy needs to end in the United States given the risk of deliberate harm to LGBTQ people,” said AMA board member William E. Kobler in a statement.

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