(The Center Square) – Mandatory consent from parents for several medical treatments is poised to reach a floor vote in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
As lawmakers return from the weekend Monday evening, the Committee on Rules, Calendar and Operations has a 21-bill agenda awaiting. Parents’ Medical Bill of Rights, known also as House Bill 519, is included.
Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, R-Henderson
The legislation would make it necessary for children to receive diagnosis, treatment or prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, emotional disturbances, and prevention of pregnancy. Access to medical records of minor children by parents is in the bill.
Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, R-Henderson, authored the proposal. In an introductory press conference, she spoke of the legal, moral and emotional responsibilities of parents running up against laws that exclude them from medical records, pharmacy reports and mental health information controlled by a consent of a minor.
Critics’ rebuttal is that children may not seek counsel and help if parents are involved.
North Carolina law says a child becomes a legal adult at age 18. Until then, responsibility including financial support is the law. At age 16 or older, a child can petition a court for emancipation.
Another reason cited by proponents is parents’ insurance paying for their children’s health care and knowing for what they are paying.
“The bill doesn’t take away a child’s right to care,” Balkcom said. “It restores the parents’ right to be involved in that care.”
In the last session of the Legislature, Democrats inclusive of then- Gov. Roy Cooper tried to stop Parents’ Bill of Rights – Senate Bill 49 – that involved K-12 education. Notification if health services were offered at school was included, as was language related to pronoun requests and an ability to know what books were checked out from the school library. Classroom instruction about sexual activity was in the new law that overcame a gubernatorial veto.
