BOSTON —

"Medieval." "Torture." "Not helpful."

Speaker after speaker opposed the use of painful electric shocks on people when testifying Tuesday before the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities.

It's used in only one place in the country: the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton.

"Isn't it really time that Massachusetts stopped these medieval practices?" one speaker said.

"We firmly believe that no one, regardless of disability status, should be subjected to pain or abuse in the name of treatment," another said.

The committee is considering two bills: one that would ban the use of aversive therapy, which includes shocks. The other would require a license to use the device, known as a graduated electronic decelerator, that causes

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