FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26th, 2025
Contact: Ashley Vaughan
[email protected]

BILLS FILED IN NC HOUSE AND SENATE AIM TO RESTORE PARENTAL AUTHORITY IN MEDICAL DECISIONS

Two bills, HB 519 and SB 759, were filed in the NC House and Senate that aim to restore to parents the right to consent for diagnosis and treatment of serious medical conditions for their minor children. Currently under NC law, children – not parents – have the right to consent for sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, and emotional disturbance. Because of this, parents are being left out of important medical decisions that may have life-changing ramifications, and the burden of managing those conditions is being left to children alone. Furthermore, parents are being excluded from deeply personal and value-laden situations that they have a right to speak into as the ones responsible for the upbringing of the child.

NC Values Coalition strongly supports these bills. Press Director Ashley Vaughan said, “Parents should have the right to make decisions about their child’s medical care. Let’s be clear: children can’t manage complex treatment plans or navigate the healthcare system alone. They aren’t ready to weigh the benefits versus the risks of psychiatric meds, or to comply with the strict regimen required to manage HIV. And they should not bear the physical and emotional toll of addiction recovery alone. Parents are being sidelined when their children need them the most, and it is time for North Carolina to fix this problem.”

Officially titled “Parents Bill of Medical Rights”, the bills were introduced just days after a landmark decision by the NC Supreme Court, Happel v. Guilford County Board of Education, reaffirming parents’ rights as being a fundamental Constitutional right. Chief Justice Paul Newby wrote in the majority opinion that parents have the right to direct the upbringing of their own children – including giving consent to and making medical decisions for their children. “If the General Assembly doesn’t pass this bill repealing the old statute that takes away parents’ rights to consent to medical treatment of their children, then a parent will inevitably file a lawsuit to have the statute declared unconstitutional,” said Vaughan.

The bills are sponsored in the House by Reps. Jennifer Balkcom, Donnie Loftis, Larry Potts, and Heather Rhyne and in the Senate by Sens. Jim Burgin, Benton Sawrey, and Dana Jones.

###