A recent House bill, Penn HB 516, is threatening the practice of colon hydrotherapy in Pennsylvania and its availability to the public. Created as a bill to provide licensure to naturopathic physicians, it specifically outlines colon hydrotherapy as included in the scope of practice of a licensed naturopath. If this bill is passed without modification, Pennsylvanians will lose their right to retain their current service providers. Requiring residents to seek out a licensed naturopath for colon hydrotherapy will: (1) limit access to the therapy, and (2) have a huge impact on small businesses that currently provide the service.

To help lobby and fight for this bill to be amended, the International Association for Colon Hydrotherapy (I-ACT) has created a Pennsylvania legislative fund and is accepting donations.

Inner Spa, a colon hydrotherapy practice in Newtown, has sent letters to clients asking for their support, and owner and national certified colon hydrotherapist Cathy Windland has urged other practitioners in Pennsylvania to do the same. “We have retained a professional lobbyist because as the bill is currently drafted, there is no language to ‘grandfather in’ what we do, so we have become victims of circumstance. Our livelihoods and the public’s right to choose would be in jeopardy, so we need everyone’s support to ensure that the work started can continue to successful completion,” says Windland.

To read the Legislative Committee Report on Penn HB 516, visit Tinyurl.com/PennHB516. To donate to I-ACT’s fund, visit i-act.org/statelegislative.html and click on the PA Legislative Fund Donation button. To find out how to otherwise get involved, call Cathy Windland at 215-968-9000, email [email protected] or visit InnerSpa.org. October 2015.

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