The New Jersey’s governor’s race heated up on Thursday after the controversial practice of gay conversion therapy became an issue that some say could affect the governor's re-election campaign.

After Gov. Chris Christie said he’s undecided on whether to ban the method, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sen. Barbara Buono had tough words for the Republican governor, the Star Ledger reports.

“Gay children don’t need to be cured,” she told the Inquirer Trenton Bureau. "It's an outrageous practice that has no place in New Jersey."

Buono added that the method, which attempts to make homosexual individuals heterosexual, is “a cruel and damaging practice of trying to shame children into being someone they’re not."

Christie’s indecision stems from his concerns about the bill’s ability to restrict a parent’s decision-making power for their children.

“I'm generally a skeptic of those bills. Now, there can always be exceptions to those rules and this bill may be one of them," he told the Star Ledger.

Christie has yet to read the bill, which would bar professional counselors from engaging in “sexual orientation change efforts with a person under 18,” CNN reports.

In testimony heard by senators, a transgender woman described how she was given electric shocks and vomit-inducing medicine.

Earlier this month Republican Ohio Sen. Rob Portman came out in support of gay marriage. Christie praised his party member’s actions but remains opposed to same-sex marriage, he told the Star Ledger.

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