Wisconsin 2023-2024 Regular Session

Wisconsin Assembly Bill AB729 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
4	4	2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 729
5	5	December 6, 2023 - Introduced by Representatives EMERSON, CONLEY, JACOBSON,
6	6	SINICKI, ANDRACA, J. ANDERSON, SHELTON, CONSIDINE, DRAKE and HAYWOOD,
7	7	cosponsored by Senators L. JOHNSON, SMITH and LARSON. Referred to
8	8	Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care.
9	9	*AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE*
10	10	AN ACT to create 48.374 of the statutes; relating to: a minor's authority to
11	11	consent to health care.
12	12	Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
13	13	This bill allows a minor who is an unaccompanied youth to consent to, contract
14	14	for, and receive medical, dental, or behavioral health examinations, care, or
15	15	treatment without a parent's or guardian's permission, authority, or consent under
16	16	certain circumstances. The bill defines “unaccompanied youth” as the term is
17	17	defined under federal law, which is a homeless youth not in the physical custody of
18	18	a parent or guardian.
19	19	Under the bill, in order to consent to health care, such a minor must be at least
20	20	14 years of age and must not be under the supervision of a county department of
21	21	human services or social services, a licensed child welfare agency, the Department
22	22	of Children and Families, or the Department of Corrections. Also under the bill, one
23	23	of the following must confirm in writing that the minor is an unaccompanied youth:
24	24	a local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youths designated under
25	25	federal law, a school social worker or counselor, an employee who conducts intake at
26	26	a shelter facility or transitional living program where the minor has been admitted
27	27	as an unaccompanied youth under current law, or the director, or his or her designee,
28	28	of a governmental or nonprofit entity that receives public or private funding to
29	29	provide services to individuals who are homeless or to unaccompanied youth.
30	30	The bill provides as an exception that the authority of a minor to consent to
31	31	health care does not apply to certain medical intervention practices if done for the
32	32	purpose of changing the minor's body to correspond to a sex that is discordant with
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36	36	ASSEMBLY BILL 729
37	37	the minor's biological sex. Under the bill, this exception does not apply to any of the
38	38	following: 1) a medical service provided in accordance with a good faith medical
39	39	decision of a minor born with a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex
40	40	development; 2) the treatment of any infection, injury, disease, or disorder that has
41	41	been caused by or exacerbated by the performance of a gender transition medical
42	42	procedure, whether or not that procedure was performed in accordance with state
43	43	and federal law; or 3) any procedure undertaken because the minor suffers from a
44	44	physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a
45	45	physician, place the minor in imminent danger of death or impairment of a major
46	46	bodily function unless surgery is performed.
47	47	Under the bill, a professional who provides medical, dental, or behavioral
48	48	health examinations, care, or treatment to a minor based on the minor's consent
49	49	given in conformity with the bill may not be held liable in a civil or criminal action
50	50	for providing those services without having obtained permission from the minor's
51	51	parent or guardian.
52	52	The bill specifies that it does not apply to a minor's consent to an abortion,
53	53	which under current law requires parental consent except in certain circumstances.
54	54	The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
55	55	enact as follows:
56	56	SECTION 1. 48.374 of the statutes is created to read:
57	57	48.374 Minor consent for medical care. (1) In this section:
58	58	(a) “Biological sex” means the biological state of being female or male based on
59	59	sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous hormone profiles.
60	60	(b) “Unaccompanied youth” has the meaning given in 42 USC 11434a (6).
61	61	(2) Except as provided under sub. (2m) and s. 48.375, a minor may consent to,
62	62	contract for, and receive medical, dental, or behavioral health examinations, care, or
63	63	treatment without a parent's or guardian's permission, authority, or consent if all of
64	64	the following apply:
65	65	(a) The minor is 14 years of age or older.
66	66	(b) The minor is not under the supervision of a county department, a licensed
67	67	child welfare agency, the department, or the department of corrections under this
68	68	chapter or ch. 938 or under the jurisdiction of the court.
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84	84	SECTION 1
85	85	ASSEMBLY BILL 729
86	86	(c) One of the following, who has obtained the minor's consent to disclose the
87	87	minor's status as an unaccompanied youth, confirms in writing that the minor is an
88	88	unaccompanied youth:
89	89	1. A local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youth
90	90	designated under 42 USC 11432 (g) (1) (J) (ii).
91	91	2. A school social worker or counselor.
92	92	3. An employee who conducts intake at a shelter facility or transitional living
93	93	program where the minor has been admitted under s. 48.9875.
94	94	4. The director, or his or her designee, of a governmental or nonprofit entity that
95	95	receives public or private funding to provide services to individuals who are homeless
96	96	or to unaccompanied youth.
97	97	5. An attorney representing the minor in any legal matter.
98	98	(2m) (a) Subsection (2) does not apply to any of the following practices upon a
99	99	minor for the purpose of changing the minor's body to correspond to a sex that is
100	100	discordant with the minor's biological sex:
101	101	1. Performing a surgery that sterilizes an individual, including castration,
102	102	vasectomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, metoidioplasty, orchiectomy, penectomy,
103	103	phalloplasty, and vaginoplasty.
104	104	2. Performing a mastectomy.
105	105	3. Administering, prescribing, or supplying any of the following medications:
106	106	a. Puberty-blocking drugs to stop or delay normal puberty.
107	107	b. Supraphysiologic doses of testosterone or other androgens to biological
108	108	females.
109	109	c. Supraphysiologic doses of estrogen to biological males.
110	110	4. Removing any otherwise healthy or nondiseased body part or tissue.
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137	137	SECTION 1 ASSEMBLY BILL 729
138	138	(b) The exception under par. (a) does not apply to any of the following:
139	139	1. A medical service provided in accordance with a good faith medical decision
140	140	of a minor born with a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development,
141	141	including any of the following:
142	142	a. External biological sex characteristics that are irresolvably ambiguous, such
143	143	as those born with 46,XX karyotype with virilization, 46,XY karyotype with
144	144	undervirilization, or having both ovarian and testicular tissue.
145	145	b. A sexual development disorder when a physician has determined through
146	146	genetic testing that the minor does not have the normal sex chromosome structure,
147	147	sex steroid hormone production, or sex steroid hormone action for a biological male
148	148	or biological female.
149	149	2. The treatment of any infection, injury, disease, or disorder that has been
150	150	caused by or exacerbated by the performance of a gender transition medical
151	151	procedure, whether or not that procedure was performed in accordance with state
152	152	and federal law.
153	153	3. Any procedure undertaken because the minor suffers from a physical
154	154	disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician,
155	155	place the minor in imminent danger of death or impairment of a major bodily
156	156	function unless surgery is performed.
157	157	(3) (a) A physician or other qualified professional licensed to practice in this
158	158	state who provides medical, dental, or behavioral health examinations, care, or
159	159	treatment to a minor based on consent given by the minor in conformity with this
160	160	section may not be held liable in a civil or criminal action for providing those services
161	161	without having obtained permission from the minor's parent or guardian.
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188	188	SECTION 1
189	189	ASSEMBLY BILL 729
190	190	(b) This section does not relieve a physician or other qualified professional
191	191	licensed in this state from liability for negligence in the diagnosis or treatment of a
192	192	minor.
193	193	(4) (a) Identification of a minor as an unaccompanied youth does not by itself
194	194	establish that the minor has been abused or neglected.
195	195	(b) This section does not supersede the mandatory reporting requirements
196	196	under s. 48.981.
197	197	(c) This section does not affect any rights a minor has to consent to treatment
198	198	under ch. 51.
199	199	(END)
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