Media Center: Press Release

Convenient resource gives local healthcare providers an accessible overview of state laws protecting adolescent healthcare

New York, NY—Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH) today released a new guide on confidential healthcare for minors in Florida. The laminated card, which fits inside a lab coat pocket, provides a quick reference for medical professionals who treat adolescent patients and have questions about what services they can provide to clients younger than 18.

Dr. Vinny Chulani, a specialist in adolescent medicine in Orlando, Florida, worked with PRCH to develop the new card. He sees a great need for information about treating adolescent patients: "We're aware that teens need access to reproductive healthcare, but there are many barriers blocking that access. One barrier comes from providers' lack of knowledge about state and federal statutes that govern our work. I often talk to healthcare providers and trainees who are confused about the complex laws surrounding teens, and which medical services they can provide. My hope is that providing doctors with a quick reference will help facilitate Florida teens' access to comprehensive healthcare."

Highlights in the publication, Minors' Access to Confidential Reproductive Healthcare in Florida, include:

• Young people are more likely to seek care when they are assured of confidentiality.

• In general, Florida law requires a minor seeking medical treatment to obtain the consent of a parent or guardian, with several important exceptions.

• A minor who is married or has been married, or a minor age 16 or older who has been legally emancipated, may consent to ALL healthcare evaluation and treatment.

• If she is married, pregnant, or a parent, a minor may consent to contraceptive services, pregnancy testing and prenatal care.

• Minors do not need parental consent to obtain Emergency Contraception (also known as the morning-after pill or Plan B).

• Minors may receive confidential testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Providers may not reveal that testing or treatment has taken place without permission from the minor.

• An abortion may not be performed on a minor until 48 hours after the minor's parent or guardian has been notified in person or over the phone. A minor has the right to seek a court waiver of the parental notice requirement. This law has been challenged in court, but is being enforced while the case is pending.

• Healthcare providers must report cases of child abuse, and are strongly encouraged to seek a social worker's support in cases of sexual assault.

• A minor who had been injured in an accident or who is suffering from an acute illness may receive emergency health services without the prior consent of a parent or guardian if the parent or guardian cannot be immediately located.

• A minor may consent to confidential medical services and counseling related to substance abuse. Disclosure of medical records regarding these services requires the minor's consent.

• Healthcare personnel may provide confidential outpatient counseling and treatment for mental health to minors age 13 or over.

• A minor in foster care generally may consent to confidential reproductive healthcare on the same basis as any other minor. Parental or guardian rights exist unless they have been legally terminated.

• An incarcerated minor who has been prosecuted as an adult and is confined in a state correctional institution is considered emancipated for the purpose of consenting to medical treatment, except in cases of abortion and sterilization.

The card also provides information for physicians who are concerned about protecting their patients' privacy, including tips for communicating with minors and suggestions for handling billing of confidential services.

Minors’ Access Cards are available through PRCH for eight other states, including Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

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