Michigan children currently need a parent\u2019s permission for abortions, vaccines, antidepressants and inpatient mental health treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are children that we’ve, as a society, said \u2018You’re too immature, too inexperienced to vote. You can’t go out and get a mortgage or a car loan. You can’t enlist in the military.\u2019 You can\u2019t \u2026. get a tattoo unless your parent\u2019s there, right?\u201d State Rep. Joe Aragona, R- Clinton Township, the sponsor of the bill<\/a>, said at a hearing last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHow much more important are these medical decisions?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Related: <\/p>\n Aragona\u2019s bill<\/a> is part of a growing debate nationally about where parents’ rights end as children age into adulthood. In the 1950s, states began allowing minors to seek medical treatment \u2014 without their parents \u2014 for a narrow slice of conditions, notably treatment for mental sexual health, including gender-affirming care. But a pushback began in 2023, with several states limiting that care, including Montana, Tennessee and Idaho, according to a review of laws<\/a> published in April by the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Medical Association.<\/p>\n Lawmakers in North Carolina<\/a> and Ohio<\/a> last year proposed bills that were similar to Aragona\u2019s, though both ultimately failed. And in Michigan, gubernatorial candidate John James, for example, has released<\/a> what he calls a \u201cbill of rights\u201d for Michigan parents<\/a>, claiming that \u201cLansing politicians want to erode your authority as parents.\u201d<\/p>\n In Michigan, policies might vary from provider to provider.\u00a0<\/p>\n Neither the Michigan Primary Care Association, which represents hundreds of community health center sites, nor the Michigan Health & Hospital Association offers guidance on parental access to records, although spokesperson Elise Gonzales said the organization is \u201ccurrently working\u201d toward a task force that would recommend best practices.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Michigan Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians has not taken a position on the new bill.<\/p>\n But this seems clear: Parents can be caught unaware.<\/p>\n “Often, parents are surprised by this \u2014 one day they can see everything and the next day they can’t,” Dr. Sharon Kileny, a pediatrician and clinical assistant professor at Michigan Medicine, said in a Michigan Medicine webpage from 2021 that cited state confidentiality laws for its policy that, at the time, limited parental access to their children\u2019s medical records once they turn 11<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Sometimes, we get phone calls from parents wondering what happened or why they can’t see anything anymore,” Kileny is quoted as saying.<\/p>\n Michigan Medicine has since changed its policy, boosting the age at which they begin limiting information to 13<\/a>, according to an email from spokesperson Jina Sawani.<\/p>\n \u2018An unfathomable violation\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n But unfettered parental access could force \u201can unfathomable violation of core health care privacy and protection,\u201d said Alex Plum, CEO of The Corner Health Center<\/a> in Ypsilanti, which provides care for patients 12 to 25 years old and their children.<\/p>\n Clinicians encourage young patients to involve their parents \u2014 going so far as to help their young patients plan out the best ways to approach their parents, Plum said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal is always to involve the parent,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re coached to do. That\u2019s our expectation and that’s our best practice.\u201d<\/p>\n But youth also must be able to confide in their doctor, he said. If not, some may forgo critical treatment.<\/p>\n And in rare cases, parental access could endanger a child who confides in a clinician, he said.<\/p>\n A youth recently arrived at the clinic for treatment for HIV after being sexually abused at home. In that case, a parents\u2019 knowledge would have further endangered the child, Plum said.<\/p>\n Because treatment is often covered by adolescent health grants<\/a> rather than parents\u2019 insurance, a young patient can feel safe speaking to a clinician, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Likewise, clinicians may extend reproductive care, paid for by federal Title X funds, to minors<\/a> without parental consent, although a Texas court case has challenged<\/a> that. (Title X does not fund abortions.) And Michigan law<\/a> reinforces the ability of a minor to obtain reproductive health care without parental consent.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make sure that in those rare situations, a person in the health care system can be an advocate and ally to these young people who do not have one in their family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"headshot](\"https:\/\/bridgemi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/HS_ARAGONA_0123-scaled-e1736549410868-732x1024.jpg\")
State Rep. Joe Aragona, R-Clinton Township, said he\u2019s willing to field suggestions from doctors\u2019 associations concerned about his legislation. (Courtesy of Joe Aragona\u2019s office)<\/p>\n