Law requiring teens to get parental permission for STD tests

[Salamander]

This ban is disgusting. It puts teens who are in abusive homes in danger, forces queer youth to come out, and is an entirely unnecessary overreach into people's lives and medical decisions. When I needed treatment for depression, I was able to tell my mom I needed help because I trusted her. She'd earned that trust. Minors shouldn't be required to confide information like this to their parents anyway (and even teens who are close with their parents might not want to tell them they're having sex, etc.), but damn if there aren't a lot of people in the comments getting all het up over their kids possibly being able to access medical treatment without their permission.

This bill won't even guarantee parents will find out about their kids' medical issues. Kids who are inclined to tell their parents will tell them and they may or may not receive treatment, depending on whether their parents think they deserve or need it. (Wonder when all these NC parents became MDs. :roll: ) Kids who aren't won't and will end up not accessing the medical treatment they need.

I also once wanted to live in North Carolina. But stories like this make me change my mind. It's quickly moving to the "never live there" column with Texas, Idaho, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

What happened in Idaho and Oklahoma?

[Mama Mia]

You know, I can see why conservatives would want to see parents notified about drugs and sex-related things, as unhelpful as it is. But why mental health? What stuck up pearl-clutching could possibly be done over teens getting confidential mental health help?

I actually understand the reasoning behind the mental health help more than I understand the reasoning behind the birth control and substance abuse help. I do not understand the possible reasoning behind the std testing and treatment one tiny bit.

Birth control is unlikely to cause any serious medical reaction, particularly in young women - especially not anything life threatening. But many of the medications used for mental illness can cause some pretty awful and scary side effects - one of my children had a very, very bad reaction to a mental health med that could have ended in tragedy if we hadn't been aware of it - and this was due to a low dose of a medication for adhd, when that turned out to be an incorrect diagnosis. And strong negative reactions to meds are more likely with teens.

That doesn't mean I agree with the law, but I can understand the rationale. Not if it's just counseling - but if there is a medication prescribed it might be good to have some means to make sure an adult knows whats going on in case things go wrong.

[Carla Bruni]

I grew up in NC and currently live in SC. Any who when I was 16...almost 17(2003ish) and went to the obgyn for bc she claimed she had to get consent from my mom. I thought it was standard already? If not that makes me extremely angry. I thought it was odd but didn't know my rights and wasn't trying to hide anything, it was only for painful periods. Weird.

Nc is really making me miss it slightly less .....slightly. SC still blows.

I don't know the law regarding parental consent in NC (or how it works with insurance/etc), but I do think this is absolutely ridiculous. I remember when I was a teenager, my very liberal mom who's a doctor to boot once told me that she absolutely MUST be advised of every single reproductive health office visit/procedure I have "because I'm your mother" (<-- always a winning argument :roll: ). I was like, UM NO because hello, privacy?! Luckily, I was mostly living in Europe at the time with my grandparents and thus didn't need to deal with the US healthcare system or with my mom, for that matter.

This is just a terrible idea all around. There's NO good that could possibly come of this.