Alabama lawmakers advance bill requiring parental consent for minors’ medical care

The Alabama House Health Committee Wednesday approved a bill raising the age of consent for medical care from 14 to 16.

SB 101, sponsored by Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, would require parental consent for medical, dental, and mental health services for minors under 16 and prohibit health care providers and governmental entities from denying parents access to a child’s health record.

“Since 1972, the age of consent for all medical care in Alabama, from dental health to general health to mental health, has been 14 years of age, and this bill seeks to raise it to 16,” said Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, who is handling the legislation in the House.

DuBose said that although the bill would have originally raised the age of consent to 18 years, she and Stutts worked with the medical community to arrive at the compromise.

 “I understand the concerns of all these medical professionals, and while I may not have wanted 16 to begin with, I wanted 18. We all did. This is far better than 14, and I think sometimes that’s what we end up doing on legislation, is working with everybody and coming to the best compromise that we can all live with,” DuBose said.

She added that a key part of the bill is ensuring that parents can access their minor child’s medical records.

“The good thing about this bill is it does provide parents with access to all medical records of their minor child, and so I’m very happy with that,” she said.

The bill provides several exemptions to the age of consent requirement. Minors under 16 who are pregnant or emancipated can make their own medical decisions. Minors under 16 can also consent to services related to sexually transmitted diseases and alcohol or drug misuse. Health care professionals would also be allowed to provide emergency services without parental consent under specific circumstances, including imminent threats to the minor’s health, suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation.

“We try to have common sense carve outs in this law,” DuBose said in a phone interview Friday.

The bill can now be considered by the full House.