Wisconsin 2023-2024 Regular Session

Wisconsin Senate Bill SB704 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 SENATE BILL 704
5	5	November 21, 2023 - Introduced by Senators L. JOHNSON, SMITH and LARSON,
6	6	cosponsored by Representatives EMERSON, PALMERI, C. ANDERSON, CONLEY,
7	7	JACOBSON, SINICKI, ANDRACA, JOERS, J. ANDERSON, SHELTON, RATCLIFF,
8	8	CONSIDINE and DRAKE. Referred to Committee on Health.
9	9	AN ACT to create 48.374 of the statutes; relating to: a minor's authority to
10	10	consent to health care.
11	11	Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
12	12	This bill allows a minor who is an unaccompanied youth to consent to, contract
13	13	for, and receive medical, dental, or behavioral health examinations, care, or
14	14	treatment without a parent's or guardian's permission, authority, or consent under
15	15	certain circumstances. The bill defines “unaccompanied youth” as the term is
16	16	defined under federal law, which is a homeless youth not in the physical custody of
17	17	a parent or guardian.
18	18	Under the bill, in order to consent to health care, such a minor must be at least
19	19	14 years of age and must not be under the supervision of a county department of
20	20	human services or social services, a licensed child welfare agency, the Department
21	21	of Children and Families, or the Department of Corrections. Also under the bill, one
22	22	of the following must confirm in writing that the minor is an unaccompanied youth:
23	23	a local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youths designated under
24	24	federal law, a school social worker or counselor, an employee who conducts intake at
25	25	a shelter facility or transitional living program where the minor has been admitted
26	26	as an unaccompanied youth under current law, or the director, or his or her designee,
27	27	of a governmental or nonprofit entity that receives public or private funding to
28	28	provide services to individuals who are homeless or to unaccompanied youth.
29	29	The bill provides as an exception that the authority of a minor to consent to
30	30	health care does not apply to certain medical intervention practices if done for the
31	31	purpose of changing the minor's body to correspond to a sex that is discordant with
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35	35	SENATE BILL 704
36	36	the minor's biological sex. Under the bill, this exception does not apply to any of the
37	37	following: 1) a medical service provided in accordance with a good faith medical
38	38	decision of a minor born with a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex
39	39	development; 2) the treatment of any infection, injury, disease, or disorder that has
40	40	been caused by or exacerbated by the performance of a gender transition medical
41	41	procedure, whether or not that procedure was performed in accordance with state
42	42	and federal law; or 3) any procedure undertaken because the minor suffers from a
43	43	physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a
44	44	physician, place the minor in imminent danger of death or impairment of a major
45	45	bodily function unless surgery is performed.
46	46	Under the bill, a professional who provides medical, dental, or behavioral
47	47	health examinations, care, or treatment to a minor based on the minor's consent
48	48	given in conformity with the bill may not be held liable in a civil or criminal action
49	49	for providing those services without having obtained permission from the minor's
50	50	parent or guardian.
51	51	The bill specifies that it does not apply to a minor's consent to an abortion,
52	52	which under current law requires parental consent except in certain circumstances.
53	53	The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
54	54	enact as follows:
55	55	SECTION 1. 48.374 of the statutes is created to read:
56	56	48.374 Minor consent for medical care. (1) In this section:
57	57	(a) “Biological sex” means the biological state of being female or male based on
58	58	sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous hormone profiles.
59	59	(b) “Unaccompanied youth” has the meaning given in 42 USC 11434a (6).
60	60	(2) Except as provided under sub. (2m) and s. 48.375, a minor may consent to,
61	61	contract for, and receive medical, dental, or behavioral health examinations, care, or
62	62	treatment without a parent's or guardian's permission, authority, or consent if all of
63	63	the following apply:
64	64	(a) The minor is 14 years of age or older.
65	65	(b) The minor is not under the supervision of a county department, a licensed
66	66	child welfare agency, the department, or the department of corrections under this
67	67	chapter or ch. 938 or under the jurisdiction of the court.
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83	83	SECTION 1
84	84	SENATE BILL 704
85	85	(c) One of the following, who has obtained the minor's consent to disclose the
86	86	minor's status as an unaccompanied youth, confirms in writing that the minor is an
87	87	unaccompanied youth:
88	88	1. A local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youth
89	89	designated under 42 USC 11432 (g) (1) (J) (ii).
90	90	2. A school social worker or counselor.
91	91	3. An employee who conducts intake at a shelter facility or transitional living
92	92	program where the minor has been admitted under s. 48.9875.
93	93	4. The director, or his or her designee, of a governmental or nonprofit entity that
94	94	receives public or private funding to provide services to individuals who are homeless
95	95	or to unaccompanied youth.
96	96	5. An attorney representing the minor in any legal matter.
97	97	(2m) (a) Subsection (2) does not apply to any of the following practices upon a
98	98	minor for the purpose of changing the minor's body to correspond to a sex that is
99	99	discordant with the minor's biological sex:
100	100	1. Performing a surgery that sterilizes an individual, including castration,
101	101	vasectomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, metoidioplasty, orchiectomy, penectomy,
102	102	phalloplasty, and vaginoplasty.
103	103	2. Performing a mastectomy.
104	104	3. Administering, prescribing, or supplying any of the following medications:
105	105	a. Puberty-blocking drugs to stop or delay normal puberty.
106	106	b. Supraphysiologic doses of testosterone or other androgens to biological
107	107	females.
108	108	c. Supraphysiologic doses of estrogen to biological males.
109	109	4. Removing any otherwise healthy or nondiseased body part or tissue.
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136	136	SECTION 1 SENATE BILL 704
137	137	(b) The exception under par. (a) does not apply to any of the following:
138	138	1. A medical service provided in accordance with a good faith medical decision
139	139	of a minor born with a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development,
140	140	including any of the following:
141	141	a. External biological sex characteristics that are irresolvably ambiguous, such
142	142	as those born with 46,XX karyotype with virilization, 46,XY karyotype with
143	143	undervirilization, or having both ovarian and testicular tissue.
144	144	b. A sexual development disorder when a physician has determined through
145	145	genetic testing that the minor does not have the normal sex chromosome structure,
146	146	sex steroid hormone production, or sex steroid hormone action for a biological male
147	147	or biological female.
148	148	2. The treatment of any infection, injury, disease, or disorder that has been
149	149	caused by or exacerbated by the performance of a gender transition medical
150	150	procedure, whether or not that procedure was performed in accordance with state
151	151	and federal law.
152	152	3. Any procedure undertaken because the minor suffers from a physical
153	153	disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician,
154	154	place the minor in imminent danger of death or impairment of a major bodily
155	155	function unless surgery is performed.
156	156	(3) (a) A physician or other qualified professional licensed to practice in this
157	157	state who provides medical, dental, or behavioral health examinations, care, or
158	158	treatment to a minor based on consent given by the minor in conformity with this
159	159	section may not be held liable in a civil or criminal action for providing those services
160	160	without having obtained permission from the minor's parent or guardian.
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185	185	LRB-5168/1
186	186	EHS:cdc
187	187	SECTION 1
188	188	SENATE BILL 704
189	189	(b) This section does not relieve a physician or other qualified professional
190	190	licensed in this state from liability for negligence in the diagnosis or treatment of a
191	191	minor.
192	192	(4) (a) Identification of a minor as an unaccompanied youth does not by itself
193	193	establish that the minor has been abused or neglected.
194	194	(b) This section does not supersede the mandatory reporting requirements
195	195	under s. 48.981.
196	196	(c) This section does not affect any rights a minor has to consent to treatment
197	197	under ch. 51.
198	198	(END)
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