NC House bill would prevent teens from getting STD treatment

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Wednesday May 08, 2013 · 3:51 PM PDT

2013/05/08 · 15:51

The North Carolina House Committee on Health and Human Services passed a bill that would prevent teenagers from receiving counseling or treatment for sexually transmitted infections unless they have notarized consent from a parent.

Parental approval would also be required for anyone under the age of 18 seeking substance abuse, mental health treatment or pregnancy care. Any care provider would be forced to obtain notarized written approval before diagnosing, treating or even counseling.

No other state requires parental consent to obtain a test for an STD.

In the past,

Rep. Verla Insko, a Democrat from Chapel Hill, said the law was enacted back in the 1970s because “there were real problems.”
“Teenagers were delaying treatment,” Insko said. “They were getting sicker, they were spreading venereal disease, in some cases committing suicide because they could not talk to their parents.”

N&O article

Republicans like state Rep. Marilyn Avila argued that current laws allowing teens unfettered access to medical care had been “undermining our families” for decades. She said that the new measure would put “less emphasis on individual children and more on the family.”

Right ... for teenagers to get needed health care is "undermining the family."

Apparently there is no better way to support families than to make teens afraid to get needed medical care for treatment of a disease.

The committee also heard from two advocacy groups on the other side: the N.C. Values Coalition and the N.C. Family Policy Council. Both said the bill would give parents common-sense authority over their children.

Common-sense authority. Yes, this bill seems like a great idea for everyone who wants sexually transmitted infections to go untreated, spread as widely as possible, and to cause longer term health implications such as PID and sterility. I guess the religious right will be happy about that since obviously it is the teenager's just punishment for having sex outside of marriage.

The bill has now been sent to the Judiciary committee before going to the full house.
http://ncleg.net/...

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