Minor consent laws for STI/HIV services increased across United States, but limitations persist, report researchers.

As of 2021, all 50 states and Washington, DC allow youth to consent independently to some or all of these services, but the laws remain complex and varied, and confidentiality protections are rare.

Increasing sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV testing, treatment, and preventive services use among adolescents is key to decreasing STI and HIV rates among this population in the US. Youth are disproportionately burdened by these health conditions, particularly among sexual, gender, and racial minorities, and this burden has only worsened over the course of the pandemic.

Minor consent laws provide underage youth the ability to obtain these services without their parents’ permission, but these laws are complex, substantially limited, and vary by state, and many adolescents are unaware that these laws even exist.

Understanding the history and limitations of these laws is necessary to evaluate their effects on access to care, inform clinical practice, identify gaps in legal protections, and increase health equity among US adolescents, according to the new study.

“Although there have been substantial gains in minor’s legal ability to independently consent to STI/HIV testing, treatment, and prevention services in the US in the last century, there remains significant room for improvement in these laws,” says study lead and corresponding author Kimberly Nelson, associate professor of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health.

“Minors have gained the right to consent to STI/HIV testing and treatment without needing a guardian’s permission in all 50 states and DC, but their ability to consent independently to STI/HIV prevention services—including the HPV vaccine and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV—is still lacking in many states. Clinicians need to be aware of the intricacies of these laws to help minor patients navigate which services they are allowed to independently consent to, as well as payment and insurance loopholes to confidentiality.”

Read the full article about reproductive health services by Jillian Mckoy at Futurity.