TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Minors would need parental consent to be treated for sexually transmitted diseases under legislation nearing the finish line in the Florida Capitol, and the proposal is even getting some pushback from Republican lawmakers.
Florida Senators spent more than an hour Monday considering this year’s parental rights expansion bill.
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The bulk of the debate and testimony centered around two lines in the six-page bill.
The change would require parental consent for medical professionals to treat minors for sexually transmitted diseases.
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“It’s an unnecessary barrier and it puts this teen or even younger at unnecessary long-term health risk,” Dr. Chelsea Daniels, a staff physician with Planned Parenthood, said.
Daniels argued there’s already a stigma around getting tested for STDs.
She said she fears requiring parents’ consent to treatment would only stand to make minors less likely to seek help, especially in cases when their guardians may be the ones who gave them the disease.
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“It just creates a horrible situation for what is already a horrible situation for a child,” Daniels said.
Bill sponsor State Sen. Erin Grall (R-Fort Pierce) argued the legislation is designed to empower good parents to control their children’s health care decisions.
She also noted there are systems in place through DCF and law enforcement to hold abusers accountable.
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“We can’t take away the due process rights of all parents because people aren’t using the systems that we have in place. And that’s where we can’t legislate only to the most vulnerable and ignore the rights of all families,” Grall said.
But the argument didn’t sway three Republicans who voted no during the bill’s last committee stop.
State Sen. Gayle Harrell (R-Stuart) became emotional while discussing her late husband, an OBGYN who fought to ensure vulnerable minors could access STD treatments.
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“If he were not allowed to treat them, he would roll over in his grave right now. I’m a no,” Harrell said.
Despite the three Republicans joining Democrats in voting no, it wasn’t enough to stop the bill from moving to the Senate floor.
The House companion has just one more committee stop.
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