If a doctor, parent, or other well-meaning adult decided you couldn't take emergency contraception, would you know what to do? Is it legal for a doctor to deny you medical treatment for a sexually transmitted disease (STD)? If you or your partner wanted an abortion, would your parents have to consent?

What are your health care rights as a minor—that is, someone under 18?

That depends. Unfortunately, the laws around minors' rights to reproductive health care are different in every state.

Know Your Rights

Photo by Julius Hampton

If you're a minor looking for contraception, your rights to confidential care are secure through all pregnancy after unprotected intercourse.

If you’re a teen looking for treatment for an STD, you have a right to seek testing and care. All 50 states and the District of Columbia allow minors to consent to testing and treatment for STDs, including HIV.

So, a teen who thinks he might be HIV positive can get low-cost testing, counseling and treatment at any federally-funded clinic. State-by-state laws vary on whether or not a doctor can share a minor's positive test results with a parent or guardian. In some states they can. In some they cannot. However, it is very, very rare that doctors share a positive result with a parent or guardian.

If you are a minor, it is very important for you to ask questions about confidentiality when you call to make your appointment. Specifically ask, “If I make an appointment and receive any kind of services at your clinic, will you tell my parents or anyone else?” For more information on the laws in your state click here for "parental consent and judicial bypass measures. Most of the laws include exceptions for medical emergencies.

Forty-two states have parental-involvement laws; 32 enforce them. This presents a major privacy issue for minors who are afraid to or simply can't tell their parents about an unplanned pregnancy, due to abusive situations in the home. (The Supreme Court required that states provide an alternative for minors who can't get their parents involved. In these cases, a young woman must go before a judge.)

"These laws harm the health of young women by imposing unnecessary delays and stress upon them," explains Jody Ratner, NAPIL Fellowship Attorney at the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, in New York City. 

"The laws can't force family members to talk to each other and can't make a healthy family from a dysfunctional one." 

According to Ratner, most minors already discuss unplanned pregnancies with at least one of their parents. Most minors who choose not to involve their parents seek guidance from at least another adult.

What Can You Do?

So, what do teens need to do to make sure their rights are secure?

"Through outreach and education, teens need to know all the options that are available for them," says Annie Keating, director of medical education for the Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH), in New York City. 

"We also need outreach and education for physicians, clinicians, and youth service providers, so that they can continue to provide the best services possible," says Keating. 

In fact, many advocacy groups have been actively promoting rights for both minors and doctors who treat them. In several states, PRCH has distributed more than 35,000 of their "Minors' Right to Confidential Health Care" pamphlets to clinicians, medical students, youth service providers, and teens. 

Jennifer Dalven, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Rights Freedom Network, also believes that minors' rights to health care are important.

"We have to start trusting teenagers and the health care system if we expect to see any positive changes," says Dalven. "And folks need to have a lot more respect for teenagers who are careful and concerned." 

Additional reporting by national correspondent Elizabeth Lafleur, 16, of Victorville, CA. 

Editor's Note: You can access more information about the ACLU's Reproductive Rights Freedom Network . "Minors' Right to Confidential Health Care" pamphlets are available at the Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health. Also check out our project called "Sex in the States" for up-to-date info on reproductive laws in your state.