An adolescent physician has seen hundreds of children seeking prescription birth control or help for mental illness. Some were in abusive environments, others had loving parents. Both groups wanted to protect themselves, but weren't ready to have that conversation with their parents.
That's the experience of Dr. Amy Weiss, chief of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. With over a decade of experience, Weiss said she believes a parental rights bill introduced in the Legislature will put children at risk, not protect them.
The bill (SB 1288), presented by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce, would end state law that allows for a physician to prescribe birth control or sexually transmitted infection treatment if the physician believes harm would come to the minor. It would also require consent for a child to participate in any risk-assessment survey or questionnaire.
Several amendments were made to the bill making room for exceptions, such as if a parent is under investigation for a crime against a minor or situations where another adult may give consent if a parent is not present.
Weiss said that even with the amendments, the bill could upend the way health professionals practice medicine. She said it would put physicians in a difficult situation where they would be forced to break patient confidentiality.
Her worries were especially strong for children in abusive situations.
"We're not going to know when they're in dangerous situations because they're not going to be completely honest with us," she said.
Weiss said the bill would roll back years of legal protections surrounding doctor-patient confidentiality and take away behavioral risk-screening questionnaires as a valuable tool for medical professionals. She said questionnaires like PHQ-9 and GAD-7 are often used to assess depression and anxiety in children.
"Those give the health care provider real time information about what is going on in the patient's life and health that needs to be addressed in that moment," Weiss said.
As the bill stands, a physician can't provide health services, prescribe medications or perform medical procedures without written parental consent except for emergency medical care by court order. Additionally, Grall clarified that while minors may be screened for STIs, parental consent is required for any treatment.
"Parents should know when a child is getting treatment," the senator said.
Grall defended the bill by arguing that surveys and questionnaires are used for data that goes nowhere and that keeping them confidential prevents struggling kids from receiving help.
"We have to reevaluate the way in which we are using our children to create systems that don't necessarily respond to their needs," Grall said. "I believe their needs can be best met with parenting."
Waves of people spoke on the bill. The process took over an hour.
Lisa Lloyd, a survivor of domestic violence, walked up to the podium pleading with the senators to oppose the bill.
"I was married for nine years to an abusive man who hit me across the face after we left church on a Sunday in front of my preschooler," Lloyd said. "If she hadn't told them at school, I might still be stuck, or badly hurt, or dead."
She said children are vulnerable in medical situations because their parents aren't taking care of them, and that "parental rights" is an unrealistic ideal.
"You are failing children," Lloyd said.
Ash Bradley, of the reproductive rights group Voices of Florida, spoke about how the bill would have affected her after being raped at 13 resulted in a pregnancy.
"This law would've prevented me from getting an abortion and a proactive treatment to prevent further risk of diseases," she said.
Bradley demanded her audience pay attention to what she was saying based on her experiences as a child and a mother. She said growing up, her parents were volatile, and this bill would create dangerous situations.
"This bill is dangerous for children, leaving them vulnerable to grow up as I did," she said. "As a child that tried to commit suicide, not once did I feel confident and safe to talk to my parents about it."
The committee passed the bill. 8-3.
Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, voted no and raised some concerns in debate.
"I did hear this bill before," she said. "The amendment is certainly a little bit helpful, but overall, this bill is still really troublesome."
Berman presented her stance that the bill would only prevent minors from having access to treatment for STIs and contraceptives, resulting in children getting sick and having long-term health issues.
"There is a belief that we want to lower the amount of abortions here in the state, but this could actually be counterproductive," Berman said. "You could actually see more children who end up having to need abortions."
Copyright 2025 WUFT 89.1