The age of medical consent would increase from 14 to 18 in Alabama under two bills pending in the Alabama Senate.
Sens. Sam Givhan, R-Huntsville, and Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, filed nearly identical bills, Senate Bill 58 and Senate Bill 101, respectively. Both advanced out of the Senate Children and Youth Health Committee meeting last week with GOP support, putting them in line for a potential Senate vote this week.
Givhan said lawmakers became concerned about the current age of consent during the COVID-19 pandemic. His proposal would give parents control over whether minors receive vaccines and their mental health treatment.
“I think (their children’s health) is something that parents want to be involved in,” Givhan said in committee last week. “I understand there’s an argument that there’s some parents that are not involved … but the parents that are involved in their children’s lives want to be aware of their medical decisions, and want to have input in those medical decisions.”
Stutts agreed.
“(There are) parents that aren’t perfect parents, but the fundamental principle should be that parents have the right to be involved, and should be involved,” said Stutts, who chairs the committee.
Both bills carve out exceptions in which minors would keep their medical consent authority if: They’ve graduated high school; they’re pregnant; married or divorced; emancipated; living away from their parents or guardians and financially independent.
Under the new legislation, minors would not need parental consent for health services to “prevent or determine the presence of pregnancy” or for drug or alcohol testing.
Rep. Susan Dubose, R-Hoover, has similar legislation, House Bill 267. It has more than 20 co-sponsors.
Three people spoke against the bill during a public hearing, including Susan Stewart, a nurse from Huntsville. She said the bill creates an impediment to care for teens that could endanger lives.
“Many children don’t live in a stable home with parents who are able or willing to make sure they get the care they need, parents who may be absent, seriously ill or incarcerated, and often the relatives caring for these children don’t have legal guardianship,” she said. “This causes delays in care that can be deadly, delays in cancer diagnoses, delays in diagnosing suicidal ideation.
“This bill strips teenagers’ rights to confidentiality when seeing a medical or mental health provider, there are legitimate reasons why teenagers need confidentiality.”
While the bill allows minors to seek care for sexually transmitted illnesses, it does not guarantee confidentiality, she said.
The Medical Association of the State of Alabama has similar concerns.
Some Democrats on the committee asked if there was a way for parents to “opt out” and let teens remain in control of their medical decisions, especially if there is abuse.
Givhan questioned how that would work.
Stutts also pointed out that at 14, Alabama is on the young end of medical consent compared to most states.
Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, agreed that 14 is young and argued via an amendment for raising the consent age to 16.
“At 16, kids today, they can drive, they can take a lot of responsibility and care for themselves and (a parent can) trust that their child can take themselves to the doctor to deal with whatever situation they’re dealing with,” Figures said.
But Stutts and Givhan opposed that suggestion. Her amendment failed.
Later, Figures asked for the reason behind the bill.
“What’s driving this is parents being in control of their children, and not the medical community,” Givhan said.