By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports
The Senate passed a bill Monday to amend the Parental Rights Act, which the Legislature passed in 2024, after health care providers raised concerns since it’s been in place.
The body voted 26-9 to move SB 1199aa forward to the House of Representatives.
Senate President Pro Tempore Kelly Anthon, R-Rupert, authored the original law and brought the bill late in the session after talking to stakeholders. It clarifies that a child may receive medical care if there is concern for “loss of life or aggravation of physiological or psychological illness.”
Anthon said he had heard of one extreme example where a minor came into a hospital with a broken femur and wasn’t immediately treated because their parents couldn’t be located.
The bill would also allow care if a minor “is seeking health care or medical treatment … that is directly related to an allegation of a crime against the minor child or to collect evidence related to such crime when the collection of such evidence is time sensitive.”
The change comes after the original law left some health care providers with concerns that juveniles couldn’t receive rape kit examinations without parental permission.
The new bill also allows first aid-related care in cases of minor injuries and illnesses, after some public school districts raised concerns in 2024.
Additionally, the new bill states that if a juvenile is pregnant or has a child, health care providers may provide treatment without parental consent. Heath care providers could also diagnose pregnancy and provide prenatal or peripartum care without seeking parental consent, as long as the care complied with Idaho’s laws banning abortion.
Other changes in the bill would allow juveniles to access services of the Idaho crisis and suicide hotline, or services to help those who are experiencing mental health crisis and present “imminent risk of serious injury to self or others.”
All of the original language passed in 2024 about parents’ rights to know in medical decision-making remains in the bill. It now heads to the House of Representatives.
Ruth Brown | Producer
Ruth Brown grew up in South Dakota and her first job out of college was covering the South Dakota Legislature. She’s since moved on to Idaho lawmakers. Brown spent 10 years working in print journalism, including newspapers such as the Idaho Statesman and Idaho Press, where she’s covered everything from the correctional system to health care issues. She joined Idaho Reports in 2021 and looks forward to telling stories about how state policy can impact the lives of regular Idahoans.