Are Minors Allowed to Receive Medical Care Without Parental Consent?

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Can Minors Receive Medical Care Without Parental Consent?

One of the more complex issues facing policymakers is establishing rules on minors' consent for medical care. A parent's right to make health care choices for a minor child seems fair and reasonable.

Despite this, the right of young people to access medical services in confidentiality may be more important than parents being informed about their child's medical condition. A parent's involvement may prevent a minor from seeking help, whether they are sexually active, pregnant, infected with an STD, or have mental or emotional problems.

As a result, many states explicitly allow minors to make their own medical decisions, but the balance between parents' and minors' rights remains a controversial issue.

There may be instances when treatment is provided without consent, such as in an emergency. Several states have passed laws regarding child medical consent, including emergency medical situations. Treatment under this exception is only offered in the presence of immediate and probable harm.

Court-ordered emancipation

The court may grant emancipation to a child under 18 who lives independently and makes their own day-to-day decisions without parental support. Once approved, the minor will have adult rights, including the ability to consent (and refuse) medical care. The patient's record should include a copy of the emancipation decree if they inform you that they are emancipated.

Situational emancipation

A minor who is married, a parent, attends college away from home, is a military member, or has been a parent may be able to consent to treatment on their behalf in some states. Minors may also agree to treatment if their parents or guardians are not readily available, and a delay in treatment could harm them.

Type of treatment

Treatments for substance abuse, mental health issues, and birth control are often available to minors. This right is granted to minors as young as 12 in several states, including Vermont and California.

It is important to remember that, while minors may meet the legal requirements for consenting to treatment, psychiatrists must still ensure that they possess the maturity and capacity to understand the treatment for which they are consenting.

Because these laws vary across states, psychiatrists need to familiarize themselves with the laws that govern their state. Document the circumstances under which the minor child is permitted to consent to treatment.

Can Minors Refuse Medical Treatment?

The American Medical Association considers informed consent a fundamental ethical and legal right. Despite this, teenagers might be denied their rights and forced into treatment without consent.

However, in the mature minor doctrine, young people are given medical autonomy. According to the doctrine, if a minor shows sufficient maturity and understanding of their condition, they may refuse or consent to treatment without the consent of their parents.

Smith vs. Seibly (Washington Supreme Court, 1967) gave rise to the concept of a mature minor doctrine. When considering whether unemancipated individuals may consent to surgery, the court determined that physicians should consider the following factors:

Age
Intelligence
Maturity
Training
Experience
Level of economic independence
Adult behavior and freedom from parental control

Furthermore, the court cited Grannum vs. Berard (Washington Supreme Court, 1967). It held that the mental capacity to consent to surgery should be determined based on the particular circumstances of the teenager.

By doing so, a precedent was established for separating similar-aged people.

Below, you will find each state's reference information when providing minors with clinical care.

State	Routine Health Medical Care	Infectious Disease
Alabama	14 years or older	Any minor
Alaska	A minor living independently from their parents and managing their finances	N/A
Arizona	Emancipated, married, or homeless	N/A
Arkansas	Any unemancipated minor of sufficient Intelligence. McKinney-Vento homeless liaison for unaccompanied homeless youth.	N/A
California	15 years or older	12 years or older
Colorado	14 years or older	N/A
Connecticut	Emergency case, emancipated or married	N/A
Delaware	An individual serving as temporary custodian of a minor	12 years or over
District Of Columbia	11 or older	N/A
Florida	16 and older	N/A
Georgia	Emancipated or married	N/A
Hawaii	14 years	N/A
Idaho	Anyone who understands the risks of health treatments	14 years of age or older
Iowa	16 or older and emancipated, married, or incarcerated	Parents do not need to consent to some health care services for minors
Illinois	14 years	N/A
Indiana	14 years	N/A
Kansas	16 years or over	N/A
Kentucky	A parent, emancipated or married
Louisiana	Any minor who believes themselves to be afflicted with an illness or disease	N/A
Maine	A minor lives separately from parents or legal guardians and is independent of parental support.	N/A
Maryland	Any minor living separate and apart from a parent, parents, or guardian and is self–supporting	N/A
Massachusetts	Self-supporting minors living separately from parents, parents, or guardians	Any minor suffering from any disease is defined as dangerous
Michigan	Being emancipated, living alone, married, pregnant, or a parent
Minnesota	Self-supporting minors living separately from parents, parents, or guardians	N/A
Mississippi	Married or emancipated	N/A
Missouri	16 or 17 years of age	N/A
Montana	Self-supporting minors living separately from parents, parents, or guardians	Minors who professes or is found to be pregnant or afflicted with any reportable communicable disease
Nebraska	Married or emancipated minor	Minors may consent
Nevada	Self-supporting minors living separately from parents, parents, or guardians for at least four months.	N/A
New Hampshire	Emergency care	14 years but notify minor's parent of positive HIV status
New Jersey	Married or pregnant	13 years or older
New Mexico	14 years or older	N/A
New York	Parent, married, or in an emergency	Parent, married, or in an emergency
North Carolina	Married, or 16 or older and emancipated, or for emergency care	Consent from a parent or legal guardian for under 18 years
North Dakota	14 years or older	N/A
Ohio	No explicit policy	Minors may consent
Oklahoma	Self-supporting minors living separately from parents, parents, or guardians	Any minor who is or has been pregnant
Oregon	15 years or older	15-17 years
Pennsylvania	Minors of any age whose consent would result in a delay	Under 21 years of age
Rhode Island	16 and over or married	Under 18 years
South Carolina	Minors of any age	N/A
South Dakota	Married or emancipated minor	Minors may consent
Tennessee	16 y or older	Minors may consent
Texas	16 years of age or older	A child may consent
Utah	15 years or older	Minors may consent
Vermont	Emancipated or married	12 years old may consent
Virginia	A minor shall be deemed for birth control, pregnancy, or family planning except for sexual sterilization;	A minor shall be deemed to determine the presence of or to treat venereal disease
Washington	A school nurse, counselor, or homeless student liaison	N/A
West Virginia	Consent rights are supported by judicial opinion for minors with capacity	No explicit policy
Wisconsin	No explicit policy	Minors may consent
Wyoming	A minor living separate and apart from a parent, parents, or guardian and is self–supporting	N/A

This table shows why it is important to look at the laws in your state before allowing a minor to make medical decisions on their own. In other cases where the child cannot decide, you may need a child medical consent form to give someone else permission to make these decisions.

Start your Child Medical Consent Form

Helpful Resources:

Emancipation of minors - Cornell Law -

Grannum v. Berard: 1967: Washington Supreme Court Decisions

Smith v. Seibly: 1967: Washington Supreme Court Decisions

The Mature Minor Rule- King County

Table of Contents:

Reasons a Minor May Give Consent Without Knowledge of Parents
Can Minors Refuse Medical Treatment?
Age of Child Medical Consent Laws by State