An Oklahoma House committee on Tuesday approved a bill to protect so-called conversion therapy, which seeks to alter the sexual orientation of gay men and lesbians.

Republican Rep. Sally Kern introduced the bill in January along with two others which target the LGBT community.

(Related: Sally Kern defends anti-gay bills: No right to push it down the throat of America.)

House bill 1598, which now heads to the House floor, seeks to prohibit lawmakers from restricting such therapies and would protect parents' right to access such counseling for their children.

“The people of this state have the right to seek and obtain counseling or conversion therapy from a mental health provider in order to control or end any unwanted sexual attraction, and no state agency shall infringe upon that right,” the bill states. “Parents may obtain such counseling or therapy for their children under eighteen (18) years of age without interference by the state.”

Citing laws in California, New Jersey and the District of Columbia which prohibit such therapies to minors, Kern said that her bill was a pre-emptive measure to “make sure that parental rights are upheld.” (DC's law is currently under Congressional review.)

Last year, LGBT advocate the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) launched its #BornPerfect campaign to raise awareness about “the serious harms caused by attempts to change a young person's sexual orientation or gender identity” and call on state legislators to protect LGBT youth from “the dangerous and discredited practices of conversion therapy.”

The 68-year-old Kern, a Baptist minister's wife, previously made headlines for saying that “the homosexual agenda is a bigger threat than terrorism” at a 2008 gathering of Republicans.