22-04-2025
Legislature nears passage of bill requiring parental consent for STD treatment, birth control
The Republican-controlled Legislature is on track to remove a statutory exception allowing physicians to prescribe minors birth control without their parents' approval. (Photo by Getty Images)
A House panel advanced a bill Tuesday that would prohibit health care providers from treating minors with sexually transmitted infections and diseases without their parents' consent.
The proposals, HB 1505 and SB 1288, have cleared all of their committee stops in both chambers following the favorable House committee vote Tuesday, putting them closer to passage.
Under the banner of parental rights, lawmakers are pushing for the removal of exceptions entitling minors in Florida to privacy with doctors and medical providers to receive treatment for STIs, substance abuse, and mental health problems. In some cases, doctors can prescribe birth control to minors without their parents' written consent.
'We believe that children and parents are going to be more engaged with each other. We've allowed the default in certain circumstances in this state to be institutions making a decision other than the family, where it should be,' said Lake Mary Republican Rep. Rachel Plakon, one of the sponsors of the bill, before the House Education and Employment Committee.
Reproductive rights advocates, Democrats, and some Republicans oppose the bill, saying it could restrict access to treatment for minors who can't trust their parents.
The change could come at a time when Florida teens are contracting chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis at the highest rates since 2008, according to 2023 data from the Florida Department of Health. Those infections can be cured with antibiotics, but worsen if left untreated.
'I want you to remember that this is the Legislature that talks about life, and STIs that go untreated cause infertility, so that is not life,' said Michelle Grimsley Shindano, director of public policy for the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates.
Although the bill originally also required parental consent for examination for STDs, the sponsors in both chambers changed the requirement to only apply to treatment and left the exception in place for minors whose parents are being investigated for a crime against them.
Plakon said that she wants to remove a 'loophole' in Florida law that allows physicians to prescribe birth control to a minor if their medical opinion is that the patient would suffer health hazards otherwise.
'We just thought it was too vague,' Plakon said.
Another provision would require parents to opt into surveys at schools, including those regarding political affiliations, mental or psychological problems, sexual behavior, self-incriminating behavior, and religion.
During an emotional moment during the bill's last committee stop in the Senate Monday, Stuart Republican Sen. Gayle Harrell teared up while she talked about her late husband's work as an OBGYN treating young women.
'He would roll over in his grave right now. I'm a no,' she said.
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