No. HB 173
Filed under Healthcare.
Parental Rights; Requires parental consent for minor's treatment for certain diseases; revises informed consent requirements; requires consent from parent or guardian for certain services provided by mobile response team; revises responsibility for cost of substance abuse services, confidentiality requirements, & requirements for voluntary admission for substance abuse impairment services; requires school district to provide parents with specified information before district administers certain questionnaires or forms to students; requires school district to give parent opportunity to opt his or her student out of such questionnaire or form; revises exceptions for certain parental rights; creates parental right to review, inspect, & consent to survey or questionnaire provided to parent's minor child; creates parental right to know certain information about survey or questionnaire at time of consent; creates parental right to consent in writing to use of biofeedback device on parent's minor child; defines "biofeedback device"; requires that results from use of such device be provided to parent; requires that such results be held as confidential medical record; revises exceptions for specified requirements of parental consent.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDMinors can currently get tested and treated for sexually transmitted diseases without a parent's knowledge. Testing stays confidential, but treatment now requires written consent from a parent or guardian first.
Minors currently can sign themselves into outpatient crisis counseling and voluntary substance abuse treatment without a parent's involvement. Both routes are repealed; getting treatment now generally requires a parent's or guardian's consent.
A parent's right to make health care decisions for a child used to yield to any other law. It now yields only to seven specific situations, including a criminal investigation of the parent or a court order.
Schools must now get a parent's written, opt-in consent before giving a student any survey touching mental health, sexual behavior, religion, or similar sensitive topics. Other well-being questionnaires only need notice and a chance to opt out, now covering grades K-12 instead of just K-3.
AIMinors could get both testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases without a parent's knowledge. The bill keeps testing confidential and consent-free, but treatment may not begin until a parent or guardian consents in writing.
AIMinors could voluntarily obtain substance abuse treatment on their own signature, with consent as legally binding as an adult's and immune from being taken back later based on age. That entire self-consent pathway is deleted outright, leaving only a rule for involuntary admissions.
AIA minor could get outpatient mental health crisis intervention under a dedicated statute without a guardian's consent. Both the authorizing statute and the matching exception that waived guardian consent for it are eliminated, so guardian consent is now required.
AIA parent's right to decide a child's health care, and a practitioner's duty to get parental consent before treating one, used to bend to any other law generally. Both now bend only to seven listed circumstances or a court order -- nothing else qualifies.
AIImmediate, onsite behavioral health crisis response is unaffected, but anything that follows it is not. Additional evidence-based services, community referrals, and care coordination that follow a mobile response team's initial crisis visit now all require a parent's or guardian's consent.
AIBefore giving a minor a survey or questionnaire that could reveal political views, mental or psychological problems, sexual behavior, illegal conduct, family critiques, privileged relationships, religion, or household income, a school must let a parent review, inspect, and consent to it in writing.
AISchools needed a parent's affirmative permission before giving a well-being or health-screening questionnaire, but only in kindergarten through third grade. Now every grade through 12th gets notice of the same kinds of questionnaires, but a parent must actively opt a student out rather than opt one in.
AIParents gain a specific new right to consent in writing before a biofeedback device -- a sensor measuring things like heart rate variability, brain waves, or breathing rate outside a clinical setting -- is used on their child, and any results must go to the parent as a confidential medical record.