110 HCON 232 IH: It is the Sense of the Congress that the U.S. House of Representatives 2007-10-10 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 232 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 10, 2007 Mr. Marchant submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce CONCURRENT RESOLUTION It is the Sense of the Congress that the confidentiality mandates for minors should be removed from family planning services programs operating under title X of the Public Health Services Act and Medicaid.

Whereas title X of the Public Health Service Act, established by Congress, was designed to assist in making comprehensive voluntary family planning services readily available to all persons desiring such service; Whereas these services, including the availability of contraception, were extended to minors under the age of 16 as a result of the United States Supreme Court decision in Carey v. Population Services International; consequently, title X clinics can provide minors with free contraceptives without a parent’s knowledge or consent; Whereas Medicaid funding for family planning was authorized to cover health care services for low-income women through a cooperative Federal-State program; Whereas in Texas, any provider receiving title X funds from the State must also provide services to Medicaid-eligible clients and the State cannot require minors to obtain parental consent before receiving family planning services including contraception; Whereas these requirements effectively force the State to provide contraceptives to children under the age of 16 in order to finance critical family planning services and reduce the likelihood of parental involvement at a time in a child’s sexual development when emotional capacity is not likely to correspond to physical maturity; and Whereas family planning programs operating under title V and title XX of the Social Security Act are not prohibited from requiring parental consent for the dispensation of prescriptions, devaluing the implication that confidentiality is a necessity and sending a mixed message to State administrators of family planning programs: Now, therefore, be it

That it is the sense of Congress that the confidentiality mandates for minors should be removed from family planning services programs operating under title X of the Public Health Services Act and Medicaid.