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1. A minor is any person who is under 21 years old.
2. Confidentiality
means that a doctor may not tell anyone about a person’s
medical information except the patient and the patient’s
parents, if the patient is a minor.
3. A teenager
can go to a doctor and be treated for any health problems
without his parent’s knowledge or permission.
4. A teenager
can get an abortion without having to notify her parents
or get consent from her parents.
5. Pregnant
students must transfer to special high schools for pregnant
teens and cannot remain in their regular high schools.
6. A 15-year-old
girl can go to a gynecologist and get a prescription for
the Pill without having to tell her parents.
7. A minor
can get tested for HIV without a parent’s consent,
but she may have to involve her parents to receive treatment.
8. Teen parents
can consent to all of their own health care and all of their
children’s health care under all circumstances.
9. A minor
always can receive mental health counseling without parental
consent or notification.
10. A teenager
whose friend brings him to the emergency room after he breaks
his arm riding his bike can receive medical care even if
his parents are unavailable to give consent to the care.
11. A person
under the age of 18 can declare herself an emancipated minor
if she wants to move out of her house because she doesn’t
get along with her family.
12. When a
teenager receives health care under his parents’ insurance,
the bills may go home, so his parents may find out about
the treatment.
13. A minor,
even one who is mature and capable of giving informed consent,
will never be able to consent on her own to non-emergency
medical care such as getting a flu shot, having a tooth
pulled or other care not related to her reproductive or
mental health.
14. When a
teenager gets tested for an STI, no information related
to that test may be released to anyone else without the
teenager’s consent.
15. Before
allowing a minor to check into a substance abuse program,
the program must get the parents’ permission.
16. Minors
who cannot afford to pay for their own medical care will
have to involve their parents in order to access care.
17. Teenagers
can sometimes check themselves into a mental health facility
without parental consent.
18. Health
care providers are obligated to report cases of statutory
rape, and must do so when a minor patient reveals that he
or she is sexually active.
19. A teenager
who is sexually assaulted on a date and goes to the hospital
to receive medical treatment is the only person who can
decide whether or not to contact the police.
20. New HIV
"partner notification" laws require a minor (or
any) newly diagnosed HIV patient to tell his doctor and
public health officials the names of any sexual and/or needle-sharing
partners.
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