Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies Anna Kirkland recently published a Viewpoint article in JAMA Pediatrics. Co-authored with Denise Lillvis, Assistant Professor at the University at Buffalo, “When Parents’ Rights Lead to Policy Wrongs,” addresses adolescent health care rights and the interference of the parents’ rights movement.
The Viewpoint piece highlights a recent legislative measure by the Idaho House of Representatives that creates fines of up to $100,000 for health care providers who use a child’s preferred pronouns and nickname without informing the parents within three days. Kirkland and Lillvis write, “Policy changes such as these are consequential and illuminate the trajectory and next moves for this generally successful parents’ rights movement.”
They conclude that parental rights laws such as these make it harder for vulnerable teens to gain confidential access to supportive health care providers.
Anna Kirkland is Kim Lane Scheppele Collegiate Professor of Women’s and Gender studies and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan. Denise Lillvis is Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University at Buffalo.
