Concord — Many New Hampshire Republicans and Democrats agree that gay conversion therapy on minors is damaging but a proposed ban on the practice is proving to be an intractable issue in the state Senate.

“Who among us would want to be converted from the essence of who we are? I don’t think any of us would,” Republican Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley said Thursday during debate on the issue.

Gay conversion therapy is the practice of trying to change someone’s sexuality or gender identity.

A bill that’s passed the Republican-controlled House would bar licensed counselors from engaging in the practice with anyone under age 18.

Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan urged senators to pass the ban, saying it would send a strong message to young people that they can be who they are.

But the Senate placed the bill on the table for the second week in a row after failing to reach agreement on a handful of amendments.

The tabling motion effectively killed the effort, as Thursday marked the last day to take regular action on bills this session.

A personal plea to pass the ban by Sen. David Pierce, a Lebanon-area Democrat who is gay, wasn’t enough to sway the chamber to come to an agreement.

Pierce said he realized he was gay at age 11 and struggled to accept it.

Research shows gay and lesbian teenagers are more likely to commit suicide than their peers and the risk increases if they undergo conversion therapy, Pierce said.

“I worked my way through it, but there was no person sitting next to me telling me I was sick and needed to be cured,” he said.

The American Psychological Association and other major health organizations have discredited gay conversion therapy and states are beginning to pass bans on the practice for minors.

California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois and Washington, D.C., ban the practice for minors and Vermont is likely to join them. But efforts in Hawaii and Colorado failed this year.

Disagreements in the Senate centered on if and how the ban would affect religious practices, with Republicans alleging it would prevent priests from counseling teenagers. The bill as passed by the House placed the ban on licensed practitioners ranging from nurses to marriage counselors and did not specifically mention religious leaders.

An effort to carve out exemptions for religious leaders and parents earned just three votes — from Republican Sens. Russell Prescott, Jerry Little and Bradley. Other Republicans preferred creating a study committee that would’ve included religious voices.

And Democrats said a religious carve-out would defeat the bill’s purpose.