parental consent Archives - The Michigan Star

ACLU Argues Michigan Law Requiring Parental Consent for Abortions Harms Minors

March 30, 2024March 29, 2024 Michigan Star Staff

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a report Thursday arguing that a Michigan law requiring parental consent for abortions harms minors.

The law, which became effective in 1991, requires all Michigan residents under the age of 18 to obtain parental consent before getting an abortion or receive a waiver from a judge. The ACLU of Michigan chapter, alongside Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH), however, argued that the law “undermines the safety, health, and dignity” of minors and that the process to waive parental consent is “traumatizing.”

Cincinnati Children’s Internal Training Tells Doctors Ways to Avoid Parental Consent for Trans Procedures

January 7, 2024 Michigan Star Staff

Hospital staff at Cincinnati Children’s in Ohio explained ways for doctors to work around parental consent for transgender minor patients in an internal training video obtained by the Daily Wire.

Steve Davis, the president and CEO of the hospital, testified in December against several bills that would have banned all transgender procedures for minors, arguing that parental consent was always obtained for any treatment and that the legislation would harm families. Dr. Lee Ann Conard, director of the hospital’s Transgender Health Clinic, said, however, that if a child is reluctant to tell their family that they identify as transgender there are things that doctors and hospital staff can do to conceal treatment from the parents, according to the video.

Massachusetts Bill Would Allow Girls of Any Age to Obtain Abortion Without Parental Consent

July 25, 2023July 24, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A radical Massachusetts bill that would end nearly all restrictions on abortion in the state would also allow girls of any age to “consent” to an abortion without informing parents or requiring their consent.

Maine Governor Signs Bill Allowing Teenagers to Obtain Cross-Sex Hormones Without Parental Consent

July 15, 2023July 14, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) signed into law legislation this week that eliminates the requirement of parental consent for 16-17-year-old minors to be provided cross-sex hormones to change their physical appearance to correspond to their gender identity at a given point in time.

L.D. 535, titled an Act Regarding Consent for Gender-affirming Hormone Therapy for Certain Minors, states “a health care professional may provide gender-affirming hormone therapy and follow-up care to a minor without obtaining the consent of the parent or guardian of the minor,” with the requirements being that the minor is at least 16 years old; has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria; has been judged by a healthcare professional to be experiencing “harm” from not obtaining cross-sex hormones; and the minor’s parents do not support the hormone treatment.

‘Gender-Affirming’ Pediatricians Help Kill Maine Bill to Prohibit Children’s Social Transition at School Without Parental Consent

June 28, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

With the help of pediatricians from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Democrats in the Maine House and Senate killed a bill Friday that would have prohibited public school staff from helping children to socially transition to another gender by allowing them to use new names and pronouns without written consent from parents.

LD 678 was defeated by house Democrats by a vote of 76-52, and by senate Democrats, 20-12.

LGBTQ Group Offering Free ‘Chest Binders’ Without Parental Consent Claims Requests from Teens Overwhelming

April 13, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A “transgender-affirming” group that provides free chest binders to children as young as 13 without parental consent says it is overwhelmed with requests for the breast flatteners from teen girls who claim they identify as boys.

Study: Greater Likelihood of Youth Suicide in ‘Gender-Affirming’ States Allowing Minors Transgender Drugs Without Parental Consent

June 16, 2022June 15, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

A study by the Heritage Foundation reveals a higher likelihood of youth suicide in states that allow minors to receive puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones without parental consent – an outcome that contradicts what the “gender-affirming” crowd is fear-mongering to parents.

Research has shown the vast majority of children who express signs of gender dysphoria experience a resolution of the problem without medical intervention, but Heritage Senior Research Fellow Jay Greene, Ph.D. notes in his study, released Tuesday, that data indicating adolescents with gender confusion suffer from a high rate of suicide have been “invoked” by LGBTQ activist organizations, media, and even the White House, “to assert that cross-sex medical interventions reduce the risk of suicide.”