Health Empowerment Action League of North Carolina - Blog #minor consent

How to Explain to Family and Friends WHY Minor Consent Matters

Sat, 21 Sep 2024 16:25:09 -0500

How to Explain to Family and Friends WHY Minor Consent Matters

HEALNC sponsored a Zoom call featuring Children's Health Defense Attorney Justine Tanguay on August 14, 2024. The Zoom call, open to the public, highlighted our concerns about NC's alarming minor consent law.

WHY SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA’S MINOR CONSENT LAW?

NC’s Law is one of the worst in the country. According to lawyer Justine Tanguay, "NC has one of the most dangerous minor consent laws in the country."

Children of any age can consent to controversial therapies. Minors ages 0-17 in NC can consent to medical services for prevention/treatment of infectious disease (including vaccination), pregnancy, drug and alcohol issues, and emotional disturbance without parental knowledge or consent.

Parents are being shut out of decision-making about their child’s health care. NC parents’ healthcare decisions are being overturned because of this law. For example, one mother was told that a facility would not perform a drug test on her 12-year-old daughter who appeared high because, "By law, we are unable to do anything without [your daughter's] consent."

Parents are being denied access to their child’s medical records. NC's large hospital systems are preventing parents from seeing their child’s medical records beginning at age 12.

Doctors can override a parents’ decision. Doctors can override a parents' medical decision if the doctor believes a delay in treatment would "endanger the life or seriously worsen the physical condition." The physician simply has to get a second opinion from a fellow physician.

Many NC children have easy access to medical treatment via school. This law dovetails with the explosion of the Gates/Bezos and government funded School Based Health Centers (SBHC) that give children easy access to controversial medical treatments while at school without needing the parent’s consent. Children can consent to treatments in SBHCs without the parent even knowing a treatment was received.

The HEALNC/CHD Call To Action

We are working hard to overturn NC's alarming law. However, we need broad public support to demonstrate to lawmakers that citizens want change, and most North Carolinians have no idea that their children are vulnerable. This is where you come in. Can you share this information with people in your circles (book club, Sunday School class, homeschool groups, etc.)? Here is a 1-page pdf you can distribute far and wide. Click the button to download it to your computer.

Minor Consent pdf

Medical Industry and NC Legislators Collude to Give Pharma Direct Access to Our Children

Sun, 18 Aug 2024 20:31:17 -0500

Medical Industry and NC Legislators Collude to Give Pharma Direct Access to Our Children

by HEALNC

Last month, we wrote about NC having one of the most dangerous minor consent laws in the country. Attorneys see this law as a ticking time bomb because the schools and large medical centers are beginning to take advantage of this open-ended law. In fact, many children are being harmed – and all of our children are at risk.

The following article outlines our experience in working to overturn this concerning law and how the medical industry is using two Republican legislators to increase pharma's direct access to our children.

In June, the NC Health Coalition met with some legislators we had identified as those who would be receptive to our concerns. Our hope was that these legislators would embrace a common sense approach to removing a dangerous loophole in the Parent's Bill of Rights. That loophole allows a child of any age to consent to medical treatment. However, almost immediately, we sensed an undertow of resistance to our suggested remedy, even though it is backed by medical facts and current research.

Our concern focused on what sounded like influence from external forces that superseded parental rights and overrode the welfare of children, possibly that of the medical industrial complex.

Meeting Summary

In mid-May, members of the Coalition held a briefing with some of our most trusted legislators to discuss the loophole in The Parents' Bill of Rights (PBR). We knew they had voted for the PBR. However, we were uncertain that they were aware of the loophole that contained a little-known NC law allowing children ages 0-17 to consent to vaccines and other controversial therapies.

They were shocked to learn that the medical part of the bill, on which they worked so hard, had become useless. To date, no one has been able to determine how this carve-out (being called a loophole) was left in the bill. But these legislators immediately went into action to have it removed.

Amending the bill was going to be a relatively simple process, which required a vote by committee chairs. Initially, it seemed to be working as most legislators were in favor of the fix. Then we learned that Rep. Dr. Kristin Baker, a chair of the health committee and child psychiatrist, acted behind the scenes (the public doesn’t have access to this process) to stop the bill from being corrected.

Immediately, physicians and other leadership of the NC Health Coalition, including the Policy Director of North Carolina Physicians for Freedom (NCPFF) Dianna Lightfoot, scheduled a meeting with Rep. Baker to weigh in and secure her support for correcting the bill.

The day of the meeting, we learned that Rep. Baker had also invited a freshman legislator, Rep. Dr. Tim Reeder, even though he is not a chair on the health committee.

Rep. Dr. Reeder’s Position on Child/Minor Consent

We were concerned because Dr. Reeder, a Pitt County Republican Representative, has strong connections within the medical establishment that are opposed to parental consent on many critical health issues. Reeder is the former president of the board of the NC Medical Society, and is currently serving as the past-president of the NC Medical Society Foundation. The Foundation is the legislative advocacy arm of the Medical Society, meaning they work to influence the law.

The NC Medical Society website boasts a resolution in support of minors consenting to “certain medical health services” which, interestingly, is almost verbatim the same as a core section of NC's troubling law:

The N.C. Medical Society has made significant donations to Dr. Reeder, contributing over $300,000 in support of his campaign. Of course, the general public would assume that the Medical Society advocates and supports best practices regarding the health and well-being of NC children and families. They have access to the same current data, research (and common sense) NCPFF used to confirm that a minor’s brain development renders them unable to provide true informed consent.

Parental involvement is essential to a child's growth and development according to multiple studies, including the “Cass Review ,” as well as recommendations on protecting the health of children from the American College of Pediatricians and Doctors Protecting Children. But it appears from our conversation with Dr. Reeder, that in many cases, he supports child autonomy over parental guidance.

Rep. Reeder is a physician at Eastern Carolina University's Brody School of Medicine, and as a candidate, he denied to voters the existence of ECU's pediatric LGBTQ+ Clinic. In reality, the clinic advertises gender affirming care for ages 4 and older . They clearly reported the services in their newspaper, The East Carolinian.

NC Health Coalition’s Meeting with Rep. Drs. Baker and Reeder

Dianna Lightfoot, Director of NC Physicians For Freedom (NCPFF), arranged and led the meeting that included physicians and leaders of other state-based organizations. She has a long career in health policy. Prior to joining NCPFF, she was a White House appointee as Senior Policy Advisor for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Global Health. Other experts at the meeting included two physicians and a nurse.

Meeting Summary According to One of the Attendees

The Coalition had requested the meeting with Dr. Kristen Baker because we understood that she was the key to correcting this loophole. Several physicians and I were granted that meeting.

Just before the meeting began, Rep. Baker said she had invited Dr. Reeder. The meeting began with the Coalition stating our reason for requesting the meeting, and that each organization represented strongly supported the Parent's Bill of Rights. We emphasized our collective position is that it is a parent’s right and responsibility to protect the health and well-being of their children. Unfortunately, after the PBR passed, we learned that a loophole in the bill largely negated the bill’s purpose. In fact, it violates the rights of parents to protect the health and well-being of their children.

Initially, Doctors Reeder and Baker focused the conversation on parental access to a child’s electronic medical records; we agreed that was part of the larger problem. That is, that parents are being blocked from providing critical information and decision-making control regarding their children's health. Equally dangerous is the fact that parents are also blocked from access to their child's medical records, including treatments and prescriptions.

Dr. Baker said, "Oh, we've had many groups here expressing concerns about this from every end of the spectrum, we even met with a group that thought parents should have no right to provide healthcare input at all! Then there are others who were concerned about specific aspects of the law."

We continued reiterating our concern that this loophole violates the Constitutional rights of parents to protect their children. It also violates the tenants of true informed consent, and it creates barriers of mistrust and dishonesty between doctors and parents, creating a truly unhealthy environment for families.

Our medical team pointed out the medically accurate, scientifically provable facts about the brain development of children. One of those facts is a child's lack of understanding about long-term consequences and that they certainly do not understand clinical terms and information. Allowing a child to make those decisions is, on its face, very wrong and unhealthy.

They argued for an age “continuum for more mature children” who should be allowed to consent to prescriptions and medical treatments (that could impact their long-term health). When asked who had the knowledge and ability to make such arbitrary decisions about someone else's child, there was no reply.

They would not acknowledge that at the bare minimum, 18 is the age of consent for almost everything country-wide (voting, purchasing alcohol, even tattooing). Instead, Dr. Reeder asserted that many states were bringing down the age of consent for issues like contraception, STD treatment, and emotional disturbance. One of our experts corrected Dr. Reeder, explaining that many states are in fact revising minor consent laws after seeing the negative consequences, including new data and research (cited above) proving that it is illogical, irrational and dangerous to suggest a child can provide true informed consent.

Furthermore, there is increasing concern from the medical community about the growing number of lawsuits resulting from psychological and physical damage done to children who have received prescriptions such as anti-anxiety medications and contraceptives without parental knowledge. We noted that as physicians, they must know that all anti-depressants carry a Black Box warning (can cause suicidal ideation for those under 18 ). Again, there was no reply. In fact, much of our conversation at that point was steered toward contraception and STD treatment.

Every time we brought up concerns and issues with similar laws in other states, Dr. Baker continued to refer to Dr. Reeder as the person who would be the expert on that. "He would know more about that than I do," she said repeatedly.

Hiding prescriptions and treatment for STD's and pregnancy prevention are of great concern to the Coalition. However, of greater concern is the Grand Canyon loophole of emotional disturbance--this term can include anything. However, when that giant void for parental knowledge and consent was discussed, there was no argument from either doctors Reeder or Baker that we could consider medically logical or factual.

These representatives' focus was also on child abuse. Our response: the Parental Bill of Rights should not be about potential child abuse by parents or adult guardians. There are already strong laws which exist to protect children from abuse. Most parents are not abusive, and focusing on extreme cases makes for bad law and policy. Regardless, potential abuse seemed to be their main reason for refusing rights to most North Carolina parents.

In this atmosphere of clearly differing positions, Dr. Baker said they were willing to continue the conversation and that they appreciated how many groups were concerned about this. The Coalition responded by asking if there is this much concern among so many groups, including medical experts, why are we this close to the end of the session with no definitive response or correction? Unfortunately, that was the end of the meeting.

The 2024 session is coming to a close, and thanks to Drs. Reeder and Baker, there has been no progress in eliminating this harmful law. We are working on a bill to overturn the law in the 2025 session, which starts in late January.

The medical industrial complex, with the help of the NC Medical Society and Dr. Reeder, is a formidable opponent. However, there is power in numbers! We all need to work together to educate the public and our many friendly legislators that this issue is critical.

If you would like to partner with HEALNC to overturn this dangerous law, please complete this survey and let us know your areas of interest.

Lawyers Warn Parents About NC's Dangerous Child Consent Law

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 15:29:04 -0500

Lawyers Warn Parents About NC's Dangerous Child Consent Law

Lawyers and other experts with Children's Health Defense and Stand for Health Freedom have warned leaders of HEALNC that North Carolina has one of the most dangerous minor consent laws in the country.

Join us Wednesday, August 14, for a Zoom call with Children's Health Defense attorney, Justine Tanguay, to learn more about the dangers of this law, how to protect your children, and what you can do to change the law. Register for one of two time options on August 14: noon and 7:30pm.

The majority of North Carolinians (even long time medical freedom advocates) are unaware that children ages 0 - 17 in NC can legally make their own medical decisions about vaccinations and other controversial therapies without their parents’ knowledge or consent. In addition, NC law allows a doctor to override a parent's medical decision if he/she believes a delay in treatment would "endanger the life or seriously worsen the physical condition" making children vulnerable to medical malfeasance. The physician simply has to get a second opinion from a fellow physician.

This law can mean life or death for a child. For example, HEALNC has been made aware of a depressed teen who was referred by school personnel to a mental health professional without his parents' knowledge. Being unaware of their child's struggles and having no indication that he needed to be monitored, the parents left him at home alone. He committed suicide while they were gone.

Other examples of medical malfeasance that are possible with NC's law are:

A grandparent who believes in vaccines could take a child of any age for vaccination without parental knowledge or consent because the child can "consent."
A child can be prescribed medications that have severe side effects without the parents knowing. Often, the parents' insurance is paying for these medications.
A child can seek a range of social, psychological, and behavioral "gender affirming" therapies without the parent even knowing that the child is struggling.
Parents whose child has been diagnosed with cancer might be forced to agree to chemotherapy to maintain custody because the doctor can override the parents' decision to seek alternative therapies.

The medical system has become more and more centralized, enabling them to increase their power and erode parental involvement.

In recent years, NC hospital systems have started taking advantage of the NC law by denying parents access to their children's (ages 12 and up) medical records and instituting policies that allow a child to override his/her parent's medical decisions. In the fall of 2023, many in the health freedom movement were shocked when Atrium Health began notifying parents that they no longer have access to their 12 -17 year old children's prescription information. According to the existing NC law and HIPAA, Atrium could have used ages 0 and up. However, they chose 12 and up. Why?

NC's minor consent law went into effect in 1977. Yet, it's taken Atrium 47 years to take advantage of the law. That begs the question, why now?

In recent years, lax minor consent laws have been proposed in a number of states and in Washington, DC.

At the same time, we have witnessed the explosion of the Gates/Bezos/government funded School Based Health Centers that give children easy access to controversial medical treatments while at school without the parents knowing.

There could have been a quick fix to this egregious law. NC Health Coalition (which includes HEALNC) has been shocked to witness the raw power of the medical establishment over our lawmakers. We will report on these political forces in our August newsletter.

If North Carolinians continue to allow the government and medical establishment to take control of our medical decisions for our children, first by the elimination of parental involvement in medical decisions, then by conditioning our children to follow authority blindly, a corporate/government partnership will grow up around them and will deprive us of all free will until our children wake up with no freedom at all.

Click below to register for one of our Zoom calls with Children's Health Defense attorney, Justine Tanguay, to learn more about the dangers of this law, how to protect your children, and what you can do to change the law.

Progress in the Legislature Regarding WHO Pandemic Treaty and Minor Consent

Sun, 19 May 2024 18:05:21 -0500

Progress in the Legislature Regarding WHO Pandemic Treaty and Minor Consent

The NC legislature began its 2024 legislative session on April 24. In preparation for this year's session, HEALNC worked with NC Physicians for Freedom to create a new health freedom coalition, The NC Health Coalition, which also includes NC Family and Parents for Kids' Health.

The Coalition has defined eight health freedom issues for 2024. Those issues are:

World Health Organization (WHO) and NC Sovereignty
Loopholes in the Parents Bill of Rights (Minor Consent)
Vaccine Mandates and Coercion
School-Based Health Centers
Harmful Therapies for Treatment of Gender Dysphoria
Freedom of Speech for Doctors, Scientists and Others
Cover-up of Injuries from Covid Vaccine/Hospital Protocols
Liability Protection for Vaccine Makers

Members of the coalition met with a group of NC legislators on May 13 and reviewed the above list of issues.

Our first meeting focused on two key issues 1) threats to NC sovereignty created by the WHO Pandemic Treaty and 2) loopholes in the Parents' Bill of Rights that give NC children of any age the right to consent to vaccines, birth control, anti depressants and other therapies.

We were pleased with the legislators' response to these two issues!

Threats to NC sovereignty created by the WHO Pandemic Treaty

Attorney Valerie Borek of Stand for Health Freedom provided an overview of the WHO Pandemic Treaty and reviewed approaches that other states have taken to protect their state's sovereignty.

The legislators responded with a positive sense of urgency, and we sent them the Louisiana bill that just passed, as well as other bills from around the country.

We will be in following up and supporting them as they work to put forward a bill or at least a resolution.

Loopholes in Parents' Bill of Rights Creating Minor Consent for Vaccines and More

If you haven't already read our article about NC's shocking law that allows children of any age to consent to vaccines and a range of other therapies without parental knowledge or consent, we encourage you to read it HERE. The law has lain dormant since 1977, yet in 2023 some of the big hospital systems in NC, such as Atrium and Novant, began using it to shut parents out of decision making about their children's care.

The Parents' Bill of Rights that passed last year appeared to solidify a parent's right to make health care decisions for his/her child. However, Atrium and Novant have started policies that shut out parents, and those policies appeared to be illegal. With closer examination, it was discovered that there was an inadvertent loophole in the Parents' Bill of Rights that allow these health care systems to provide medical treatment to minors without parental consent and prevent parents from even seeing their child's medical records.

We presented this situation to the legislators, and they were shocked! The loophole was overlooked by both the legislators and citizens who supported the bill. Again, they are working with a sense of urgency to close the loophole. HEALNC has enlisted the help of an attorney to provide language to the legislators, so they can close the loophole effectively.

We are grateful to our health freedom-friendly legislators! This is an election year, and we have an opportunity to elect even more legislators who support our right to informed consent, parents' rights, and sovereignty. For more information on how you can help us vet candidates for this election, click HERE.