Alabama state Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, has filed a bill to raise the age, from 14 to 18, at which people can make their own medical decisions.

Sens. Jack Williams, R-Wilmer, and Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, are cosponsors on SB101.

Under current state law, a minor who is at least 14 years of age, who has graduated from high school, or who is married, divorced, or pregnant may give legal consent to medical, dental, and mental health services for themselves.

Stutts’ bill would require that a person must be 18 to give consent unless they are married, divorced, pregnant, emancipated, or living independently apart from their parents or legal guardian.

The bill’s text specifies that these restrictions also apply to participation in school counseling services, donating bone marrow, determining the presence of or treating pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, alcohol or drug dependency, and receipt of a vaccine.

“I think caring for, making decisions for, protecting your children is a fundamental parental right and responsibility,” Stutts said.

“And you know, if they’re living in your home, under your care, you’re providing for all their daily needs, then coming under your authority and helping them make these kinds of decisions is very important.”

The bill also prohibits healthcare providers or other government entities from denying a parent access to their child’s health information, unless a court order prohibits the access, or the parent is under investigation for a crime against the child, according to its text.

“We’re in no way saying by this bill that everybody’s a perfect parent, that there aren’t extenuating circumstances.” Stutts said.

“But you know, I guess an example would be, if you had a 15-year-old child that was using drugs and they didn’t want you to find out, but they’re living in your house under your care and they have a positive drug screen, shouldn’t you be able to find out?”

Under Stutts’ bill, school counselors would have to notify or receive consent from parents before they could render their services to students.

“It makes exceptions for life threatening situations, imminent danger,” he said. “And those things are covered elsewhere in the code.”

“If a school counselor thought a child was in imminent danger, they absolutely would have to intervene. You don’t have to say, well, let me get permission from your parents first. That’s common sense and that’s already in the law.”

“But having said all that, I’m a parent,” he continued.

“Our children are grown now. We have nine grandchildren. But when our children were that age, I would not have wanted a school counselor referring one of my children for counseling without talking to me about it.”

Stutts acknowledged that these restrictions could discourage some minors from seeking medical or mental health assistance if they are worried about their parents’ reactions.

“I mean, I guess there’s that possibility,” he said.

“But I think if you have a substance abuse problem, your chance of success with counseling or treating that substance abuse problem is significantly improved if you have the family unit involved.”

“And so, yeah, there may be somebody that doesn’t seek care because they don’t want their parents to find out. I mean, for generations, teenagers have done things they didn’t want their parents to find out about.”

“But having said all that, if we get the family unit involved, chances of success are also better.”

While family support has been proven to be vital in addiction recovery, several medical studies also stress the necessity of medical privacy during adolescence and show that it has widespread impacts such as reducing STI numbers, teen pregnancy, and reducing high risk behaviors like recreational drug use.

“Perceptions of confidentiality influence adolescents’ decisions to seek care and disclose information,” Elise Berlan, MD, MPH, a pediatrician in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, previously told Pediatrics Nationwide.

“Pivotal opportunities to influence adolescent behavior may be missed if confidentiality is not discussed.”