The complications when state law requires parental permission for medical services

This is a cop out. The reality is playing out in front of us. Doctors (and hospitals ) don’t want to be sued or go to jail and the lawyers tell them not to risk it.

 

Idaho passed a new law as of 2024! 14-18 years olds used to have some privacy and that was taken away. I assume it was due to “trans panic” and abortion, and it surely is, but a plain reading of the law does indeed indicate most medical procedures are off limits without parental consent - with the only exemption being “imminent bodily harm or death”. So basically medical practitioners can only work on trauma and emergency type cases without the parents or risk imprisonment. I’m not clear why the law would impact this case as from what I can tell it only changed privacy rules for 14-18 year olds (the case here is a 13 year old). But perhaps the healthcare provider was concerned with the new criminal penalties?

Interestingly, one thing their new law decriminalized is parents who withhold healthcare to their children.

If a child has cancer and the parents don’t sign off, the healthcare provider is at risk (criminally) if they treat. If the parents prefer to “pray the cancer away” and withhold care, that can no longer be construed as a crime or child abuse in ID, instead the healthcare provider can get 10 years in prison. Crazy stuff.

 

I am jealous of people who grew up with parents who gave them a safe space. My sister pierced her ears at 14 at a friends house. She came home and ripped the earrings out through her earlobes. He then beat her so bad he broke her jaw and she was put in the hospital. I wasn’t home at the time. I used to protect my sisters by getting my dad mad at me and took the beatings for them. So I think we should pass laws to protect the children if this annoys good parents I can live with that.