In March 2024, Washington State passed Initiative 2081, the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which grants parents the ability to review textbooks, curriculum, and other educational materials used in their children’s classrooms, as well as access to their children’s public school records.
This initiative, which took effect in June 2024, also mandates parental notification when children seek medical or mental health care at school or are referred for treatment outside of school. Despite these measures, Rep. Jim Walsh R-Aberdeen believes more protection is needed for parental rights, particularly concerning healthcare decisions for minors.
To address this, Walsh has pre-filed House Bill 1176, which aims to amend Washington’s “mature minor doctrine.
This bill seeks to standardize the age at which minors can consent to medical services without parental consent.
Currently, there are varying age thresholds for different medical services, ranging from 13 to 15 years old, leading to what Walsh calls a patchwork system.
Under HB 1176, minors would need to be at least 17 to consent to STD-related treatment, inpatient mental health care, or substance use disorder treatment without parental consent.
Additionally, the bill would prohibit taxpayer funds from covering abortions for minors under 17, except in cases where the minor’s life is in imminent danger.
Walsh acknowledges the anticipated resistance to the bill, pointing to the opposition faced by I-2081, particularly from lawmakers like Sen. Jamie Pedersen D-Seattle, who raised concerns about protecting minors’ access to reproductive healthcare and mental health services without parental involvement.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, which opposed I-2081, has not yet commented on HB 1176, and Rep. Dan Bronoske, the new chair of the Health Care & Wellness Committee, has also declined to provide a statement on the bill.