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Bill Summary · SB 440

Summary of SB 440 (Ohio, 136th General Assembly)

Purpose

SB 440 would allow a pregnant minor to consent to health care related to her pregnancy and post-delivery recovery without the need for parental or guardian consent. The bill defines prenatal, delivery, and immediate post-delivery care (including family planning) as health care that the minor can consent to on her own, with the aim of maintaining the life or improving the health of the minor or the unborn child.

Key Provisions

  • Definition of health care: For purposes of this section, “health care” means treatment or services intended to maintain the life or improve the health of the pregnant minor or the unborn child.

  • Autonomous consent by the minor:

    • A minor may consent to:
    • Prenatal health care
    • Health care during delivery
    • Post-delivery health care necessary for physical recovery from the birth
    • Family planning services
    • Such consent is not disaffirmable on the basis that the minor is not yet of age of majority.
    • Consent from the minor’s spouse, parent, guardian, person acting in loco parentis, or the unborn child’s putative father is not required.

  • Consent procedures at initial prenatal visit:

    • At the first prenatal visit, health care facilities or professionals must request permission to contact the minor’s spouse, parent, guardian, or person acting in loco parentis for additional information that may aid in providing proper care.

  • Information sharing:

    • The minor’s treating health care professional or their delegate may inform the minor’s spouse, parent, guardian, or person acting in loco parentis about health care provided or needed.
    • The provider may not disclose the minor’s medical history to these individuals.

  • Financial liability:

    • A minor’s parent or guardian, or a person acting in loco parentis, is not liable for the cost of treatment or services provided to the minor or her unborn child under this section.

  • Safeguards and references:

    • The provision does not change or reduce obligations to report child abuse or neglect under existing law (Section 2151.421 of the Revised Code).

Who Is Affected

  • Pregnant minors seeking prenatal, delivery, and immediate post-delivery health care, including access to family planning services.
  • Health care facilities and professionals providing prenatal, delivery, and post-delivery care to minors.
  • Parents, guardians, spouses, or other persons acting in loco parentis (who are not required to consent or be notified for the described health care, but may be informed under certain medical-treatment circumstances).

Procedural and Timeline Aspects

  • The bill grants immediate autonomous consent rights to pregnant minors for the listed health care, effective upon enactment.
  • At the initial prenatal visit, facilities must seek permission to contact relevant adults for additional information, when necessary for care.
  • Communications with family or guardians about care are allowed with restrictions on sharing medical history.

Practical Implications

  • Expands minor autonomy in obtaining prenatal and related health care without parental consent.
  • Could streamline access to timely prenatal services and post-delivery recovery care for pregnant minors.
  • Potentially reduces delays caused by awaiting parental consent, while maintaining patient privacy protections for medical history disclosures.
  • Places emphasis on the minor’s health and the health of the unborn child, with explicit allowance for sharing non-sensitive information with appropriate parties for care coordination.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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