Panel advances wide‑ranging parental‑rights bill after amendments; advocates and clinicians warn of access barriers

The Senate Judiciary Committee adopted an amendment and reported favorably CS/SB 12 88 after extended testimony from dozens of advocates for and against the measure.

Sponsor Senator Grahl framed the strike‑all amendment as narrowing and clarifying the bill. The amendment keeps parents as default decisionmakers for minor children’s medical care while listing several exceptions — for example, when a parent is the subject of an investigation involving the child, when a child is in out‑of‑home placement, or when statutory rules already allow a minor to consent (for example, certain emancipated or married minors). The amendment also requires written parental consent for medical treatment unless the law already authorizes a minor to obtain care without consent.

A central portion of the amendment addresses school surveys and ‘‘biofeedback devices’’ used in schools. The amendment requires parental review and consent for surveys and clarifies that results cannot be shared without parental permission; it also requires consent before schools or other providers use devices that monitor bodily functions, such as heart‑rate variability or brain‑wave biofeedback, and added an explicit exemption for emergency treatment.

Supporters — including parents’ rights groups, some faith‑based organizations and legal advocates — said the bill restores parents’ ability to know when minors are asked sensitive questions or are offered treatment and to be the primary decisionmakers for their children. ‘‘As a parent, it is both our right and our responsibility to direct the care, control, and custody of our children,’’ one supporter told the committee.

Opponents, including the ACLU of Florida, health‑care providers and reproductive‑health groups, argued the bill will create dangerous barriers for youth seeking treatment for sexually transmitted infections, mental‑health crises or other urgent needs, and will chill health‑care screenings and research. Several clinicians and representatives of public‑health and child‑welfare groups said the measure would deter young people from seeking confidential care and could harm minors in abusive or neglectful households.

Committee members pressed the sponsor on several specifics: whether the bill would require parental consent for a minor to obtain contraception or STI treatment, how the statute treats over‑the‑counter contraceptives, whether the bill changes existing misdemeanor penalties for providers, and whether an Apple Watch or other consumer wearables could be treated as a ‘‘biofeedback device’’ under the bill. The sponsor said the amendment did not change existing criminal penalties and that she had added language clarifying emergency medical‑care exceptions and that health‑care providers could provide emergency care.

The committee adopted the strike‑all amendment and reported the bill favorably, 8‑3. The sponsor said she will continue discussions with stakeholders to refine definitions and exemptions between committee stops.