Germany moved one step closer to banning "conversion therapy" targeting transgender and gay people after its Cabinet approved a draft bill on Wednesday morning.

The bill will next be presented to Germany's lower house, Health Minister Jens Spahn told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland news group (RND). If the bill passes both houses of parliament, advertising or offering conversion therapy will be banned and infringements will carry fines of up to €30,000 ($33,000).

After the proposed ban, only adults who freely seek out the controversial "therapy" will be legally permitted to undergo it. It is estimated that up to 2,000 conversion therapies take place in Germany every year, with Spahn saying that was "2,000 too many."

"Homosexuality is not an illness, therefore the word 'therapy' is already misleading," said Spahn. "This so-called therapy makes people sick instead of well." Read more via DW