Albany’s war against parents’ right to control, or even know, what medical procedures are done to our children continues with Assembly Bill A6761 (Karines Reyes, D-Bronx). Up to now most of these bills only allowed for vaccines to be given to minors without parental consent, but A6761 cuts to a core goal of the medical services and products industry: it completely eliminates parents’ right to make medical decisions for their children. Children of any age could be given drugs, including psychiatric drugs, vaccines, dental procedures, hospitalization, and surgery without parental knowledge or consent, and allows Medicaid funds to pay for anything that is done to the child. This is simply the worst children’s health bill ever.
A6761 proposes a new paragraph for Public Health law Section 2504,
“8. Any person, including a minor, who comprehends the need for, the nature of and the reasonably foreseeable risks and benefits involved in any contemplated medical, dental, health and/or hospital services and any alternatives thereto, may give effective consent to such services for themselves, and the consent of no other person shall be necessary. The commissioner is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the provisions of this subdivision.”
TAKE ACTION
Please click HERE to send a message to your Assemblymember expressing your opposition to A6761.
And please call your Assemblymember and politely let the staffer know you want your Assemblymember to oppose this radically dangerous bill.
The following legislators, including, unfortunately, Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin, have co-sponsored A6761. Please call them and politely ask that they reconsider their support.
Karines Reyes, Sponsor, (718) 931-2620, (518) 455-5102
Any Paulin, Chair of the Assembly Health Committee, (914) 723-1115, (518) 455-4292
Linda Rosenthal, (212) 873-6368, (518) 455-5802
Andrew Hevesi, (718) 263-5595, (518) 455-4296
The Official Description of A6761 is misleading
The official description of the bill claims that it, “Allows homeless youth to give effective consent to certain medical, dental, health, and hospital services, provides for insurance coverage of such health care services consented to be such youth.”
But Albany passed a law last year (A9604/S8937), in less than 10 weeks from introduction to passage by both houses, that went into effect in March 2023, that allows homeless and runaway minors to make medical decisions without parental knowledge or consent.
The real-world effect of A9604/S8937 is that parents lost all rights to make medical decisions for their children, or even know what is being done to our children, if the child either runs away from home or the family becomes homeless.
Contrary to the representations made by proponents of this bill, New York law already allowed for physicians to treat runaway youth if the child’s health is in danger and a parent cannot be reached, New York Public Health Law, Paragraph 4. This bill did not even make it to our attention since we do not monitor homeless and runaway issues, but obviously, we should have.
So if runaway youth are already allowed to get needed healthcare, what was the point for A9604/S8937? A celebratory press release issued by the Legal Aid Society following passage of the bill in the New York Senate spilled the beans,
“Gender-affirming healthcare is a life-saving treatment. (A.9604/S.8937) will ensure the right of young TGNC New Yorkers to access gender-affirming healthcare.”
Read More: The Worst Children’s Health Bill Ever
