Corona Daily 019: A Minor Consent

An interesting debate has started in the USA this month. So interesting, it has gone to a Law Court.

In October 2020, the Washington D.C. municipality passed an Act that allows children as young as 11 to get vaccines without their parents’ knowledge if a doctor determines the child is capable of informed consent. The law was passed before any coronavirus vaccines had become available. Now, as you know, USA has vaccines available for anybody 12 and above. There are several parents who for religious or other reasons don’t want their child to get the shot. But what if the child wants to get the vaccine?

Last week, four parents of children who attend the Washington D.C. public schools sued the mayor and the municipality saying the law subverts the right and duty of parents to make informed decisions about whether their children should receive vaccinations. The law violates their religious liberty and their fundamental right to direct the care and upbringing of their children.

The parents are particularly upset because the new law allows the doctors to leave students’ immunization records blank (so that the parents don’t know about the vaccine).

The lawsuit was brought by the anti-vaccine activist, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, one of the disinformation dozen I wrote about earlier.

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Such laws were mainly created for the HPV or meningitis vaccine. HPV vaccine protects teenagers against a sexually transmitted infection that can cause cancer. Teenagers having sex and wanting to protect themselves by taking a shot, rarely wish their parents to know about their sexual life. In developed countries, as a rule, young teenagers make their own decisions about contraception and sexually transmitted infections. The doctors, schools and authorities are usually protected for advising or treating the children without the parents’ knowledge. Courts have also allowed minors to seek treatment for anxiety or depression when a parent objects to psychotherapy.

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Elizabeth’s (who allowed the newspaper to publish only her middle name) parents are divorced. She is 17. Her mother supports vaccinating her daughter, but the father is a staunch anti-vaxx. He has threatened her mother against attempts to vaccinate Elizabeth. The laws of the state require Elizabeth has consent from both parents. She somehow managed to get vaccinated. She has kept it a secret from both.

Now she is in a real fix. Her school requires all students to get vaccinated for the fall semester. Her father has started a fight with the school, he may even go to the court. If the school learns she is vaccinated, she will be disciplined for deceiving vaccinators.

The web is full of such stories. Isabella, another teenager, whose mother didn’t allow her said, “it’s my body.” The mother said, “It’s my body until you’re 18.”

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Kelly Danielpour, 18, daughter of a pediatric neurosurgeon and an intellectual property lawyer, has started a website VaxTeen.org. It offers guides to state consent laws, links to clinics, resources on information about covid-19 and advice for how teenagers can engage parents. Kelly started the website before covid, when she realized most children were not aware of the legal rights they have or about recommended vaccine schedules.

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In the UK, where the issue will arise once vaccines are approved for 12+, the law seems to be clearer.

Children below 16 can consent to their own treatment or vaccines if they are believed to have enough intelligence, competence and understanding to fully appreciate what is involved in their treatment. This is known as being “Gillick competent.” (Ironically, the test is named after Victoria Gillick, an activist, who campaigned against a minor’s consent.)

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16, 18, 21 are arbitrary numbers defining legal adulthood. Every new generation is physically and intellectually maturing earlier. The debate is not merely about vaccines. How long do parents have a right to insist their children are vegetarians/non-vegetarians? Religious/atheists?

If in such matters 12 year old children hold opposing views to their parents, they are probably mature enough to take their own decisions. In this, civilized laws and courts should support the child.

Ravi