Dept. of Health denying teens preventative healthcare, citing new parental consent law

The Tennessee Department of Health will no longer permit teens to access routine health care -- including birth control or pregnancy tests -- without obtaining parental permission. (Getty Images).

Editors note: This story has been updated to include comment from mental health advocates received after publication.

Tennessee public health clinics will no longer give teens access to routine healthcare — including birth control, sexually transmitted infection treatment and pregnancy testing — without parental consent, according to the Department of Health’s interpretation of a new parental rights law in effect July 1.

The Family Rights and Responsibilities Act received scant public attention when it wound its way through the legislature earlier this year as other controversial measures came to the fore.

As applied by the state’s health department, the law fundamentally alters the way public health doctors and nurses interact with teenage patients seeking out preventative care at their local public health clinics — often the only available option for teens needing these services in rural Tennessee counties.

Before the law took effect, teens 14 and up could access contraceptives, HIV and pregnancy tests and a range of primary healthcare from public health clinics on their own. Now, they must bring a parent with them or allow staff to obtain verbal parental consent over the phone.

A new law, initiated by a legal firm that advocates for conservative Christian causes, prohibits Tennessee teens from receiving routine healthcare — including counseling and prescriptions for birth control — without a parent being present or parental consent.

Public healthcare providers who violate the law are subject to have their licenses revoked, suspended or not renewed — and can be sued by parents if they don’t share information that is “relevant to the physical, emotional or mental health of the child.”

“We live in a time that there are those who would fancy themself to be able to decide what’s best for my children outside of my purview,” Rep. Jeremy Faison, a Republican from Cosby who cosponsored the bill, told colleagues.

“If someone in Tennessee is licensed, is certified through the state, decides to go behind the parents’ back and encourage a child in a way opposite of what that parent is allowing this allows an avenue for the parent to step up and say ‘this isn’t okay and needs to be looked at’ and gives them a civil action course.”

Sen. Ferrell Haile, a Gallatin Republican who cosponsored the measure, noted it was brought to him by the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal firm that advocates for conservative Christian causes, among them a federal parental rights bill that mirrors Tennessee’s new law.

The law also requires all healthcare providers to obtain parental consent before offering counseling or psychological services. It remains unclear how the state intends to apply this provision of the law to the spectrum of mental health professionals. A law that predates the Family Rights and Responsibilities Act may carve out exceptions for older teens 16 and 17 years olds, Heather Meshell, a lobbyist for mental health organizations, noted after publication.

The Tennessee Department of Health did not respond to voicemail and email questions left since Friday about the shift in policy regarding minors. The department directly oversees clinics in 89 rural counties, while the state’s largest cities run their own public health operations..

Staff at Department of Health-run clinics in Robertson, Cheatham, Wilson and Rutherford Counties confirmed to the Lookout they had implemented the new parental consent policy as of July 1, turning away teenage patients who arrived without a parent and were unwilling to get them on the phone to offer verbal consent.

“If they’re under age 18 they have to have parental consent,” said Amber Bailey, a registered nurse at the public health clinic in Maury County.

Metro Nashville Public Health Department, one of six urban public health centers, has also changed its policy for teen patients.

“All patients less than 18 years of age will be required to have signed or verbal consent by a legal parent or guardian prior to receiving all health department services,” the Nashville department posted on its website.

Urban health clinics in Memphis, Knox, Shelby, Madison and Sullivan counties did not respond to messages left Tuesday about their own interpretation of the new state law.

The law carves out exceptions to the requirement a parent or guardian must give consent for a teen patient to be seen by public health officials if other statutes, case law or court orders conflict. It is unclear how the Department of Health officials reached the conclusion that these preceding laws, which remain in effect, no longer apply to teen patients.

One existing Tennessee law allows healthcare providers to treat minors for sexually transmitted infections without parental consent. Another allows prenatal and postpartum care without parental consent for pregnant minors over the age of 14. And a third law , in effect since 1971, allows doctors to prescribe contraceptives to minors without parental consent.

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