Latest news with #parentalConsent
CBC
5 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Quebec government committee recommends limiting social media for kids under 14
A committee of Quebec legislature members is recommending that social media accounts be barred for youth under the age of 14 unless they have the consent of a parent or guardian. The recommendation was in the final report of the all-party committee studying the impact of screen time on young people's health. The report acknowledges that some social media sites already have age limits, and that young people are frequently able to get around them. But committee member Alexandre Leduc told reporters the recommendation sends a signal to parents and the public about the risks of social media. The proposed age limit is lower than those imposed by France and Australia, who have opted for minimum ages of 15 and 16 years old. The government confirmed this spring it would accept another committee recommendation to extend a classroom cellphone ban during the school day to the entire grounds at elementary and high schools.
Fox News
6 days ago
- Health
- Fox News
Planned Parenthood using 'loophole' to get minors gender transitions without parents' OK: watchdog
FIRST ON FOX: The conservative watchdog group American Principles Project is sounding an alarm over what the group is describing as a "massive loophole" being utilized by Planned Parenthood to give transgender hormone therapy to minors. In a wide-ranging report chronicling how Planned Parenthood is propping up the trans agenda, the American Principles Project accused the group and its affiliates across the country of manipulating the definition of contraception in order to provide transgender hormone therapy to minors without parental consent. "Using contraception as a 'gender-affirming' treatment is a massive loophole," the report stated. "Most states allow minors to consent to these contraceptives on their own, and many states allow minors to do so without even notifying parents." Some blue states, like Washington, Oregon and Minnesota, have laws permitting minors to obtain puberty blockers, or cross-sex hormones, for the purpose of transitioning genders, without parental consent. However, most states do require parental consent in order for minors to access these drugs, while others take an even stricter approach of banning the medications for minors outright, regardless of whether their parents approve or not. The American Principles Project points to a "Gender Affirming Care Patient Guide" from Planned Parenthood's Mar Monte chapter, the national organization's largest affiliate serving parts of central California and northern Nevada. In both states, parental consent is required for minors to access any type of medical intervention aimed at aiding a minor's gender transition, but it does permit minors to obtain various forms of contraception, such as birth control, without it. "People 15 and younger who have periods can come to us for birth control options to stop periods," the patient guide on "gender-affirming care" states. It then notes in the following sentence: "Parent/guardian consent is not required to get birth control." A 2022 case study from Seattle Children's Hospital, which has come under scrutiny for providing transgender medical care to minors, highlights the case of a 14-year-old biological female who was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and was "very distressed by bleeding cycles" that the patient began experiencing at age 12. Despite the minor patient's gender dysphoria, the child did not want to fully transition into a male. Rather, according to the case study, the female patient was identified as "non-binary" and expressed that she did not want to be subject to the effects of testosterone, such as a deeper voice and facial hair. As a result, the child was given hormonal-based birth control to stop her periods, which the case study said resulted in better mental health for the patient and opened them up to pursuing top surgery in the future. In addition to blocking periods, certain types of birth control can also suppress testosterone production, according to the Endocrine Society. This makes contraception a viable route for gender-dysphoric biological females who may not want to experience the impacts of testosterone but want to blunt their female-sex maturation, as described in the above case study. It's also a viable mechanism for biological males who want to block their body's natural testosterone production, according to the Endocrine Society. "While patients under 18 cannot receive hormone therapy, they may have a consultation with a provider to understand treatment options and to receive medications to stop their periods (if desired)," Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest states on its "Gender Affirming Care" web page. The explanation also appears on a FAQ page under the website's "About Us" section. "The fact that Planned Parenthood is actively finding and exploiting legal loopholes to begin transitioning minors behind their parent's backs is downright disgusting," Terry Schilling, President of the American Principles Project told Fox News Digital. "There is nothing this organization will not do to make a quick buck at the expense of our children and families." According to the American Principles Project's report, around 80 percent of Planned Parenthood clinics offer some form of "gender-affirming care," which the group says has outpaced abortion services. The report goes into other extensive details about how Planned Parenthood has prioritized sex-change procedures for young people, which Schilling remarked "isn't healthcare" but rather "an ideological crusade that undermines families and exploits vulnerable youth." "Planned Parenthood's recent shift to becoming a leading provider of so-called 'gender-affirming care' exposes their radical agenda to reshape society, starting with our unborn children and now targeting the next generation with dangerous, life-altering medical procedures," Schilling said. "Our report reveals that Planned Parenthood now prioritizes irreversible transgender treatments—often without parental consent—OVER their other services, with an estimated 120,000 transgender medical visits annually and growing," he continued. Their materials, from activity books promoting gender ideology to chatbots targeting kids as young as 13, are designed to sexualize and indoctrinate the next generation." In a statement to Fox News Digital, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest's President and CEO, Jenny Black, insisted that its health centers "operate under the highest medical standards," and said that any accusation it is violating state law "is completely false." "We strongly denounce the dangerous spread of disinformation about life-saving gender-affirming healthcare that is fueled by rampant transphobia," Black said. "We will continue to provide safe and legal health care to those who rely on us for access to quality and compassionate care." Planned Parenthood's Mar Monte chapter did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Associated Press
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Florida appeals court strikes down law letting minors get an abortion without parents' consent
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday that a state law that allows minors to get an abortion without their parents' consent is unconstitutional. A three-judge panel of the Fifth District Court of Appeal found that the state's judicial waiver law violates parents' Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process, citing the state's parental rights laws, a recent ruling by the Florida Supreme Court and the landmark 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that stripped away federal abortion rights. 'Whatever asserted constitutional abortion rights may have justified Florida's judicial-waiver regime in the past unequivocally have been repudiated by both the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court,' reads the appeals court opinion penned by Judge Jordan Pratt and joined by Judges John MacIver and Brian Lambert. For years, anti-abortion activists and Republican state lawmakers have worked to unravel minors' rights to petition a judge to access the procedure in Florida, which bans most abortions after six weeks, before many women even know they are pregnant. The appeals panel flagged the case as 'a question of great public importance' for the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled in 2024 that a privacy clause in the Florida Constitution does not guarantee a right to an abortion. The three-judge panel sided with arguments made by state Attorney General James Uthmeier and ruled against a 17-year-old girl who is nearly six weeks pregnant and seeking an abortion without the knowledge or consent of her father. The appeals court affirmed a lower court ruling that the girl, who is only identified as Jane Doe, lacks the 'requisite maturity' to make the decision without a parent or legal guardian involved. The opinion said the decision was based on her lack of 'emotional development and stability, her credibility and demeanor as a witness, her ability to accept responsibility, and her ability to assess the immediate and long-range consequences of her choices.' ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
