Minors Could Get HPV Vaccine Without Parents’ Consent if New York Bill Passes

By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D./Children’s Health Defense

New York on Tuesday became the latest state to advance legislation that would allow minors to receive vaccinations without parental knowledge or consent.

New York Assembly Bill A276 would allow minors to receive treatments to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) — including vaccines, such as Merck’s Gardasil human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine — without parental knowledge or consent.

In a 16/10 vote, members of the New York State Assembly’s health committee voted to allow the bill to proceed to the state’s rules committee for review, after which it may come to the assembly floor for a final vote.

Eight Republicans and two Democrats voted against the legislation.

The Children’s Health Defense (CHD) tweeted a video of the vote. During the vote, more than 30 constituents who opposed the vote stood in the room to watch while more than 130 more stood outside the building chanting, “No.”

The New York Senate on May 16 introduced a “same as” bill — meaning it echoed the language of the New York Assembly health committee’s bill — that may soon be reviewed by the Senate health committee.

Both the Assembly and the Senate bills are necessary for the proposed legislation to be enacted into law in New York.

New York’s proposed legislation does not specify how young minors can be to get STD vaccines without their parents’ knowledge or consent, stating only that the minor must have the “capacity to consent.”