Section 5122.04 of the Ohio Revised Code allows minors over the age of 14 to receive up to six sessions of mental health services without parental consent. Under law, the minor’s guardians should only be informed if the professional “determines that there is a compelling need for disclosure based on a substantial probability of harm to the minor or to other persons.”
“No other adult or agency should be introducing a child to something, especially medical, mental health or anything else, without the parents’ approval, just because of parents’ God given rights to raise their own children and be responsible for their care,” said Newman, a pastor, in an interview with this outlet.
Newman, a freshman legislator, said the contents of H.B. 172 should have been passed when the legislature approved the so-called Parents Bill of Rights last year, which required certain parental notifications from school faculty, including counselors.
When this outlet asked Newman if there was any scenario in which he’d be uncomfortable with the state barring a minor from receiving mental health care without parental consent, he responded, “I can’t imagine that, no. The child is under the parents’ care and authority.”
Newman is carrying H.B. 172, but has garnered support from several in the GOP caucus that, like him, see the issue as clawing parental rights back from the government. The bill has over a dozen cosponsors.
Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, who has broad control over the priorities the House takes up, told this outlet Wednesday that the topic needed a solution that “recognizes the complexity” of problems around youth mental health concerns. Huffman referenced situations where a minor may report abuse to law enforcement or children services.
“And so when you start stepping into that area and affecting that, that becomes a different thing,” Huffman said. “I understand the concept. I think you have to have law enforcement, I think involved in this. I think you have to have a whole panoply of people who deal with children in these often very difficult situations, and probably sculpt something that recognizes the complexity of that.”
Across the aisle, House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, cast doubts on how far the legislation would proceed.
“It’s deeply concerning, because the reality is … sometimes they are in crisis because of their family situation,” Russo told this outlet. “Denying them that access is detrimental to not only their mental health but also, potentially, their physical health.”
The bill, which has not yet had its first hearing, has been assigned to the Ohio House Health Committee for further review.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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