(The Center Square) – With minor adjustments, parental medical rights legislation advanced from the Judiciary 2 Committee in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
Three other proposals are on the move that are intertwined with changes from the previous presidential administration of Joe Biden to the second term of Republican Donald Trump.
Parents’ Medical Bill of Rights, known also as House Bill 519, is directed at parental consent for minors. It would be needed for children to receive diagnosis, treatment or prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, emotional disturbances, and prevention of pregnancy. Access to medical records of minor children by parents is in the bill.
The bill is back in the Rules Committee.
Civil Procedure Amendment, known also as House Bill 606, gained favor with a Judiciary Committee substitute and is back in the Rules Committee. An initial send to the State and Local Government Committee was rerouted.
This bill would give an extension to the statute of limitations for medical malpractice in gender transition procedures. The bill language says, “a cause of action arising out of the performance or failure to perform services while in the course of facilitating or perpetuating gender transition shall be commenced within 25 years from the day the claimant reaches 18 years or age or four years from discovery of both the injury and the causal relationship between the treatment and the injury, whichever is later.”
Baby Boxes/Newborn Safety Device, also known as House Bill 139, provides an anonymous option for mothers to protect babies from abandonment. It is an expansion of the Safe Surrender Law. The legislation is back to the Rules Committee.
Following a stop in the Health Committee, Parents Protection Act, also known as House Bill 560, is headed to the Judiciary 2 Committee. The proposal has a companion in Senate Bill 442.
This proposal would make sure parents can’t be accused of abuse or neglect for raising their child according to birth sex or lose custody of their children if there is disagreement of their sex when born and a potential gender identity claim. Medical decisions are the parents’ fundamental rights, according to the bill. Also, potential adoptions or foster care would not be tied to prospective parents having to affirm gender identity.
