Latest news with #SB1288
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
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. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Florida teens may be blocked from birth control, STI treatment without parental consent
A measure that would make minors in Florida get parental consent for birth control and treatment for sexually transmitted infections goes against guidance from the nation's leading association for obstetricians and gynecologists. A bill entitled "Parental Rights" (SB 1288) by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce, which has passed through its first two committees, would nullify an existing state law that allows for a physician to prescribe birth control or STI treatment for those under 18. But the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) supports 'confidential" care, as "it is even more crucial for adolescents because the lack of confidentiality can be a barrier to the delivery of reproductive health care services." This includes confidentiality in billing and insurance claims. According to guidance provided by ACOG: 'Even though policies should encourage and facilitate communication between a minor and her parent or guardian when appropriate, legal barriers and deference to parental involvement should not stand in the way of needed contraceptive care for adolescents who request confidential services.' Dr. Anne-Marie Amies Oelschlager, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington, said based on her clinical experience, what patients tell her when their parents step out of the room is often different from what is said in front of them. 'I want to ask every single person in that (legislature) if they would call up their mother and tell their mother every single thing they've done sexually in their life,' Oelschlager told the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida. 'It's not uncommon for adolescents to hold back information from their parents," she added. "It's part of respecting boundaries between a parent and a child.' Grall stood by her position that if a child has an STI and needs treatment, a parent should know. A more hardline earlier version of the bill originally required parental consent for just STI testing, but lawmakers amended the bill, allowing minors to get tested for STIs without parental consent. 'I believe their needs can be best met with parenting. I get that it's hard, and I get that everything's not perfect, but it doesn't mean we say 'OK government, you can do better,' ' Grall said at a recent Senate committee meeting. The bill would not prevent a minor from buying birth control or emergency contraception over the counter, like condoms or Plan B. It does, however, penalize with a misdemeanor charge any health care provider who prescribes birth control pills or related medication without a parent or guardian's consent. 'You could have a child that has HIV, and you would not be informed as a parent. You could have a child that has syphilis who needs certain types of treatment. That treatment could interact with other things that that child either has, a reaction to, an allergy to … and those are things that parents know. A provider may not know, and a parent should know when a child is getting treatment,' Grall said. At the first committee hearing in the Senate, Grall said she did not consult with medical professionals when drafting the original policy. From 2017 to 2021, syphilis rates rose 82% in Florida and increased 72% nationwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Congenital syphilis, which occurs when syphilis is passed to a baby during pregnancy, rose 88% in Florida during this time period, and 219% nationwide. Chlamydia and gonorrhea are often asymptomatic, Oelschlager said, and left untreated can lead to life-changing consequences. In women, untreated chlamydia and gonorrhea cause inflammation in the cervix, which can travel up into the uterus and into the fallopian tubes. Patients can get intense inflammation, infection and scarring from the untreated STIs. Oelschlager said she's had adolescent patients admitted to the hospital because of severe infections. "I understand the need to want to make sure my children are healthy and safe, and I also want to know if they're in a dangerous situation or if they've been hurt, but also understand they're never going to tell me everything that they would tell their doctor about their private sexual lives,' Oelschlager said. Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@ This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Birth control and parental consent debated in Florida bill
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Amid rise of STI rates among teens, a bill could risk their access to treatment and birth control
High school and college students with the Planned Parenthood lights and generation action programs testified against a bill in the Senate on March 25, 2025, that would require parental consent to access birth control and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix) Florida teens are contracting sexually transmitted infections at rates higher than in the past decade, and a bill advancing in the Republican-controlled Legislature would require them to tell their parents to secure treatment. Minors in Florida are entitled 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. Vero Beach Republican Sen. Erin Grall wants to eliminate those exceptions and grant parents access to all their kids' medical records, including approving any health surveys or questionnaires they may fill out. This means that healthcare providers wouldn't be able to treat a minor with an STI without a parent's permission. The staunch anti-abortion senator is labeling the statutory exceptions providing teens privacy with their doctors a parental rights problem in SB 1288. 'It's tragic to me that so many people have had to experience such pain at the hands of their parents, but I believe that as a society, we have marginalized parents in a way that has led to that behavior, and it's my hope that we see that change,' Grall said during the Senate Pre-K-12 Committee meeting, which the bill passed with four senators in opposition, including a Republican. Grall said she found bothersome her own experience taking her daughter to the doctors' office, where the child was given a survey about suicide. She told lawmakers that repeatedly asking children if they had ever considered suicide could cause them to start thinking about it. During nearly an hour of testimony, sexual assault survivors and reproductive health advocates say the bill was dangerous for kids who can't confide in their parents at risk, leading to an increase in teen pregnancies and STIs. Statewide rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis among 13 to 17-year-olds are the highest they have been since 2008, according to 2023 data from the Florida Department of Health. Those infections can be cured with antibiotics, but worsen if left untreated for longer. 'This is war on our reproductive freedoms, but what I was really shocked to hear is that we are now attacking the mental health of our children,' said Sarah Parker, a member of the public providing testimony who said she had been sexually assaulted as a child. 'We know that children are abused and raped in the system. Let's not pretend these things are not happening. Just say you don't care and be transparent.' Florida statute is clearer about teens' ability to receive treatment for STIs, substance abuse, and mental health services without parental consent than it is about granting access to birth control. However, physicians can prescribe birth control to a minor if their medical opinion is that the patient would suffer health hazards otherwise. Nearly all of Grall's Republican colleagues agreed, but Miami Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud opposed the bill, insisting that the requirement become parental notification and not consent. Grall said she wasn't willing to make that change. 'We have to consider how we protect vulnerable populations, and we cannot hope the best for them with the policy without creating some sort of protections for them,' Calatayud said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The state has been making strides toward reducing the number of teen pregnancies. Between 2004 and 2023, the rate of teen pregnancies among minors fell from 13.8 to 3.6 per 1,000 women in the state, according to FDH data. Those numbers don't capture how Florida's reproductive care landscape has changed since the six-week abortion ban went into effect in May, but doctors already had to get parental consent or permission from a judge to provide abortions to minors. Grall, who sponsored the law restricting abortions in most cases after six weeks' gestation, said she wasn't concerned about an increase in teen pregnancies and that minors could still report abuse to law enforcement or other mandated reporters. With a shorter timeframe for minors to secure an abortion before six weeks' gestation, pro-abortion advocates say access to birth control is essential. 'This bill helps no one and causes undue harm to young Floridians, who, under the current abortion ban, would be forced to carry out unwanted teen pregnancies due to lack of access to education, birth control, and testing,' said Tsi Day Smyth, chief deputy director of Voices of Florida. 'I was here when y'all decided that parents do not have the authority to make these sorts of decisions when it comes to their kids' gender-affirming care, and now you're saying that they do have the authority to make these decisions when it comes to reproductive care. Pick a lane, please.' The lack of sex education in public schools across the state also worsens the potential damage of the bill if kids don't know how they can contract STIs, critics of the proposal said. 'At the end of the day, failing to educate young people, hampering our ability to conduct risk assessment surveys, and restricting access to family planning is a recipe for disaster for young people in Florida,' said Michelle Grimsley Shindano, director of Public Policy for the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, in a press release. Health care providers could face disciplinary actions if they disobey parental consent requirements, such as probation and suspension or revocation of their licenses, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. They could also have to pay fines of up to $10,000 per violation. January Littlejohn, the Leon County mother whom First Lady Melania Trump invited to President Donald Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress, was one of five people speaking in support of the bill. The parental rights advocate recently lost her appeal in the dismissal of her suit against the county's school board and superintendent over a dispute relating to her child wanting to use pronouns and express a gender identity she didn't approve of, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. 'Bottom line is, we cannot continue to presume all parents to be a risk of abuse with no due process, and continue to cut them out of medical and mental health care decisions for their children, because it is us, the parents, that know and love our children better than anyone else,' she said. SB 1288 is not the only bill Grall filed angering pro-abortion advocates this legislative session. The Republican senator also wants parents to claim damages in the wrongful death of a fetus at any stage of development, which critics say would establish fetal personhood. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
