This blog was written by Olivia Girard, a member of ACASH’s Youth Advisory Council

Senate Bill 101 (SB101) is legislation proposing changes to minors’ current medical consent and privacy rights. SB101 was filed for the 2025 legislative session by Senator Stutts and co-sponsored by Senators Williams and Allen. If passed, SB101 would change the current law (Alabama code 22-8-4) regarding medical consent and the right to privacy between minor patients and their physicians, which has been in effect since 1975. As the law currently stands, any minor at least 14 years of age OR who has graduated from high school, is married, divorced, or is pregnant may legally consent to medical, dental, and mental health services for themselves. Under this same law, minors are allowed to participate in school counseling services, bone marrow donation, pregnancy testing, prenatal care, STI testing/treatment, and rehab services.

SB101 aims to change the age of consent from 14 to 18 for anyone who does not meet the previous exceptions mentioned. If passed, minors under 18 would still have access to pregnancy testing and prenatal care, STI testing and treatment, and rehab services, but their patient confidentiality would be jeopardized. Parents would have access to all of their child’s medical records of treatments. This will effectively strip minors of the right to  doctor-patient confidentiality. It would also require school counselors to contact parents before any intervention with a student can occur unless the student is an imminent danger to themself or others. The only exception to parents being allowed to see every bit of their child’s medical records would be if a parent is under investigation for crimes against the child or if the child lives independently. 

At ACASH, we are deeply concerned about the potential harm this will place on LGBTQ+ minors and reproductive healthcare for minors. Proposed policies like SB101 threaten to undermine the rights and privacy of these vulnerable populations. But this bill is not just going to affect those populations and those health services. It will affect every single person in the state of Alabama under the age of 18, which seems to be the exact point. 

This bill would effectively remove doctor-patient confidentiality between minor patients and their healthcare providers. In the United States, the American Medical Association adopted its first code of ethics in 1847, which included doctor-patient confidentiality as a key tenant. This confidentiality is crucial for patients to feel safe and open in their discussions with their healthcare providers. While Alabama has no specific state legislation protecting this, HIPAA, which was passed in 1996, ensures the right to privacy for patients nationwide. The protections offered by HIPAA have allowed me to safely access therapy. I never had to worry about my mother knowing what I was discussing. HIPAA is a cornerstone of patient privacy in the United States, and this bill threatens to undermine its protections. I’m concerned that if passed, this bill would require mental health professionals to grant parents access to what their patients are feeling and speaking about during their sessions. For teens in high school, many use talk therapy to navigate parent-child relationships. Proposed legislation like this would scare many people away from using this often life-saving medical service. 

I’m deeply concerned for victims of abuse who would potentially receive no medical privacy from their abuser. So many cases of abuse go unreported in our state, especially sexual abuse. Those who report their abuse are not always believed, and their parent(s) are not always investigated. Imagine giving a predator complete control over their victim and the care they can receive while stripping that victim of what little bit of privacy they may have in the first place. According to Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), 34% of sexual abuse cases reported to law enforcement were perpetrated by  family members.

I worry about minors who disagree with their parents on fundamental care issues, such as contraception, vaccination, and mental health treatment. I have known so many people whose parents believe that vaccines are against their religious values or that psychiatric help was fake. Because of our current law, these people  were able to successfully seek treatment for their mental illness or get vaccinated to protect those they love without risking harm at home.

This law, if passed, will make it harder for young people to access care, and if they can get access to the care they need, how honest will they be with their provider if they know their parent(s) or guardian will see every word they speak or every treatment offered or considered? I’d like to ask these senators why they want to change this law 50 years after it was passed. I’d like to ask what they seek to achieve by passing this bill. 

Finally, I want to leave everyone with a bit of hope. During this legislative session, you can advocate for young people and their right to make decisions and seek medical care with confidentiality like the rest of society. If you want to learn more, join us for our Youth Advocacy Day on April 8, 2025 at the Alabama State House. 

Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/doctor-and-patient-during-examination-7579824/