CT passes bill ensuring access to reproductive care for youth under 18

Connecticut lawmakers on Tuesday gave full passage to House Bill 7213, a proposal to codify into state law a guarantee that minors in Connecticut may receive contraceptive and pregnancy-related care without permission from their parents. 

The legislation passed 31-5 with bipartisan support in the Senate. The House earlier this month voted 117-27 to pass the bill, with seven legislators missing the vote.

In Connecticut, minors can consent to a range of health services, including emergency medical treatment, testing for sexually transmitted infections and abortion. But contraceptive and pregnancy-related care are exceptions. Providers say that can lead to inconsistencies in care. 

People under the age of 18 in Connecticut can generally access contraceptive care — like birth control — without parental consent, though it’s not explicitly guaranteed in law.

“This bill allows minors under the age of 18 in Connecticut to consent independently to contraceptive and counseling services — also to prenatal care, and care and pain management during labor and delivery,” Public Health Committee co-chair Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, said during the floor debate. “This bill is not about abortion.”

The measure prohibits providers from sharing information, including billing, with parents without the minor patient’s consent, but it also specifies that parents cannot be held financially liable for services their child receives without their knowledge, Anwar said. 

Anwar addressed concerns he’d heard from “a very small minority” about why such care must be provided without parental notification, pointing to medical research showing that kids are less likely to access contraceptive care if parental consent is required. But, Anwar clarified that the bill does not make changes to existing mandatory reporting laws, including Department of Children and Families notification if a child under the age of 13 is engaging in sexual activity or diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. 

During a public hearing on the bill in March, which lasted over ten hours, the testimony overwhelmingly supported the proposal, though some constituents expressed unease that parents might be kept out of important conversations they want to have with their children. Several health providers testified that one of the steps they take when providing reproductive care to young people is to encourage them to talk to a parent or trusted adult. 

Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, ranking member of the Public Health Committee, called the legislation a “pro-woman, pro-baby, pro-saving lives bill,” and she said its most important component was the ability it guarantees for minors to receive prenatal care.

“Early prenatal care saves lives,” Somers said, adding that adequate care plays a critical role in preventing dangerous outcomes for both the mother and the baby. “Teen pregnancies are at a higher risk for complications and delaying care can result in premature birth, low birth weight, and stillbirths.”

Gretchen Raffa, chief policy and advocacy officer for Planned Parenthood Votes! Connecticut, called the legislation “a necessary step to ensure young people can continue to access essential health services confidentially and without unnecessary barriers.”

Reproductive and maternal care legislation

The legislature is considering a handful of bills aimed at increasing access to maternal and reproductive care in the state.

A bill that would broaden Connecticut’s “shield law”, to guarantee legal protections for physicians who provide reproductive and gender-affirming services via telehealth to patients in other states, is slated for an initial vote in the House as soon as Wednesday of this week, according to one of its main proponents, Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, D-West Hartford, co-chair of the legislature’s Reproductive Rights Caucus. 

Another measure passed out of the Judiciary Committee, which hasn’t yet received a floor vote, would allow people who are incarcerated to breastfeed children during visits. Sen. Somers, a co-sponsor of the proposal, called it in a written statement “a compassionate and necessary step forward, not just in criminal justice reform but in the overall health of our communities.”

There are also proposals requiring studies of improvements to perinatal mental health care services, expansions to the number of birthing facilities in underserved areas of the state and the feasibility of importing ingredients for reproductive health medications, like the abortion bill. These measures have yet to be called for a final vote.