Under the Department of Health’s interpretation of a new parental rights law that took effect July 1, Tennessee’s public health clinics will no longer provide routine medical care to teenagers, including birth control, sexually transmitted disease treatment and pregnancy testing, without parental consent.
The Family Rights and Responsibilities Act attracted little public attention when it passed Parliament earlier this year, amid a wave of other controversial bills garnering attention.
The law, implemented by the state health department, will fundamentally change how public health doctors and nurses interact with teens seeking preventive care at local public health clinics, which in Tennessee’s rural counties are often the only option for teens who need these services.
Before the law came into force, young people over the age of 14 could access contraceptives, HIV tests, pregnancy tests and a range of basic medical care on their own at public clinics, but now they must be accompanied by a parent or allow staff to obtain verbal parental consent over the phone.
A new law proposed by a conservative Christian law firm would ban Tennessee teenagers from receiving routine medical care, including counseling and birth control prescriptions, without a parent’s presence or consent.
Public health care providers who violate the law could have their licenses revoked, suspended or denied renewal, and could be sued by parents if they fail to share information “related to a child’s physical, emotional or mental health.”
“We live in an age where people think they have the power to decide what’s best for my child outside of my purview,” Rep. Jeremy Faison, a Republican from Cosby County who co-sponsored the bill, told his colleagues.
“If someone who is licensed in Tennessee and certified by the state decides, without the knowledge of the parents, to encourage a child in a way that is the exact opposite of what the parents have allowed, it opens the door for parents to stand up and say, ‘This is not OK and we need to look at this,’ and it opens the door for a civil lawsuit.”
Republican Sen. Ferrell Hale of Gallatin, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the bill was proposed by the Alliance Defense Fund, a law firm that defends conservative Christian causes, including federal custody bills similar to Tennessee’s new law.
The law also requires all health care providers to obtain parental consent before providing counseling or psychological services. It is unclear how the state intends to apply the law’s provisions to the scope of mental health professionals.
The Tennessee Department of Health did not respond to phone and email questions left since Friday about the policy change regarding minors. The health department directly oversees clinics in 89 rural counties but runs its own public health operations in the state’s larger cities.
Staff at health department-run clinics in Robertson, Cheatham, Wilson and Rutherford counties confirmed to Lookout that starting July 1, they implemented a new parental consent policy, turning away teenage patients who came in without a parent and were unwilling to give verbal consent over the phone.
“If you’re under 18, you need parental consent,” said Amber Bailey, a registered nurse with the Maury County Public Health Clinic.
Metro Nashville Public Health, one of six public health centers in the metropolitan area, also changed its policy for teenage patients.
“All patients under the age of 18 must have signed or verbal consent from a legal parent or guardian prior to receiving services from the Health Department,” the Nashville Health Department posted on its website.
Dispensaries in the cities of Memphis, Knox, Shelby, Madison and Sullivan did not respond to messages left Tuesday about their own interpretations of the new state law.
The law carves out exceptions to the requirement that teenage patients obtain parental or guardian consent to be seen by a public health official when other statutes, case laws, or court orders conflict with this requirement. It is unclear how Health Department officials came to the conclusion that these previous laws, which are still in effect, no longer apply to teenage patients.
Tennessee’s current law allows health care providers to treat minors for sexually transmitted diseases without parental consent. Another law allows pregnant minors over the age of 14 to receive prenatal and postnatal care without parental consent. And a third law, in place since 1971, allows doctors to prescribe birth control to minors without parental consent.
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