The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday upheld a ruling on a California law that bans psychological counseling aimed at making gay minors straight, Fox News reported.

California's ban on such therapy is set to take effect after the Supreme Court ruling, according to Time. The court denied hearing two challenges to the law.

The measure prohibits mental health providers from "engaging in sexual orientation change efforts" with minors, Time reported. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the ban into law in 2012, but the enactment has been delayed by appeals.

In August 2013, the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals ruled that California legislators showed that therapies designed to change sexual orientation for minors weren't part of the scientific mainstream and have been frowned upon by most major medical groups, Fox News reported.

"The Supreme Court has cement shut any possible opening to allow further psychological child abuse in California," state Sen. Ted Lieu, who sponsored the original bill, told Fox News. "The court's refusal to accept the appeal of extreme ideological therapists who practice the quackery of gay-conversion therapy is a victory for child welfare, science and basic humane principles."

Once the law takes effect, therapists and counselors who use these treatments would be subject to discipline through state-regulated boards, Fox News said. This ban doesn't extend to pastors or unlicensed counselors.

Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal-aid group, was among those that challenged the law, Time reported. Those groups argue that there is no scientific proof the therapy does any harm.

"I am deeply saddened for the families we represent and for the thousands of children that our professional clients counsel," Matt Staver, Liberty Counsel chairman, said in a statement. "The minors we represent do not want to act on same-sex attractions, nor do they want to engage in such behavior."

New Jersey last year also banned gay-conversion therapy, according to Fox News. That bill became law when state Gov. Chris Christie signed it. Liberty Counsel also has been fighting that law and says that the California ruling won't affect its New Jersey efforts, Fox News said.