(LifeSiteNews) — In a now-viral social media video, the father of a 12-year-old boy said “this state is absolutely insane” after California regulations granting medical autonomy to teens prevented him from making a doctor’s appointment for his young son.
“I cannot explain how ridiculous the state of California is. My 12-year-old son, he needs to schedule an appointment himself to go see a doctor or a specialist,” explained the man, whose accounts are held under the name Jonathan Freeman. “Because when you’re 12 in this state, apparently you can make your own medical decisions.”
“We don’t have access to his account with scripts. He has to go in there and do everything,” said the distraught father. “This state is absolutely insane.”
“I should’ve known when I was working as a janitor in 2017, and I saw Time Magazine in every single classroom with a man on the cover that was pregnant,” he continued. “It was a woman with a beard.”
“My state sucks,” lamented the boy’s dad. “It’s gone looney.”
The Golden State dad found lots of sympathy online.
“Lawmakers are abusing children. It’s a brilliant move. They can’t own a gun, can’t drink, can’t smoke, can’t work, but somehow they can decide on their own to take prescription hormone blockers without their parents consent. Unbelievable,” noted a commenter.
“Taking away a parent’s ability to manage their 12-year-old child’s medical appointments while leaving them to foot the bill is sheer madness,” said another.
Another troubled parent empathized, “My 12-year-old daughter has type one diabetes and I can’t order her insulin that she needs in order to LIVE. Welcome to clown world.”
“12-year-olds these days can’t even spell ‘doctor’s appointment,’ much less make decisions about one!” said another social media commenter.
The medical autonomy granted to children beginning is alarming.
According to the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF), minors of various ages may consent to a troubling area of “services,” including:
- Abortions
- Treatment for drug- and alcohol-related problems
- HIV/AIDS testing and treatments
- Diagnosis or treatment of certain infectious, contagious, or communicable diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases
- Mental health treatment and counseling
- Treatment or prevention of pregnancy, including family planning and contraception
- Rape treatment
- Sexual assault treatment
CHFC explains:
As an example, minors of any age in California may consent to medical care related to the prevention or treatment of pregnancy. The minor’s health care provider can disclose the minor’s medical records only with the authorization of the minor (unless the disclosure is for treatment or other purposes specifically authorized by law). Further, the provider is not permitted to inform a parent or legal guardian of the treatment without the minor’s authorization.
To comply with these requirements, health care providers and HIEs must be able to distinguish the information in a minor’s record that is controlled by the minor from the information that is controlled by his or her parent.
