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PRINCIPLES REGARDING CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH CARE

The American Medical Student Association:

1.             BELIEVES that adolescent health care delivery is best carried out in a primary care setting that is also committed to the adolescent’s health maintenance needs;

2.             BELIEVES the guidelines for health care policy and programs, based on the unique aspects of adolescence, should encourage self-directed action and choice supported by the counsel of parents and/or other responsible adults;

3.             BELIEVES that adolescent health services and decisions regarding such services should be rendered by professionals trained in developmental counseling and adolescent health;

4.             BELIEVES that adolescents should have the right to confidential health services, including the right to seek and obtain psychiatric care and treatment for substance abuse without obtaining consent from a legal guardian; (1995)

5.             BELIEVES that adolescents receiving confidential care should be encouraged to involve their family or an equivalent support system;

6.             BELIEVES that when confidentiality regarding the medical problem is not an issue between adolescent and parents:

a.             adolescents who are clearly mature or emancipated should have the option of representing themselves in the health-care system;

b.             adolescents who are not fully mature or have just begun the emancipation process should be encouraged to actively participate in their health-care decisions.

7.             BELIEVES every child has the right to and must be guaranteed access to at least an adequate level of preventive and curative care, not to be dictated by the socioeconomic status of his/her family or the region of the country in which the child happens to reside.  The care mentioned in 1 and 2 above should be provided through a uniform nationwide system. (1988)(1990)

8.             In regard to sexuality and reproductive rights:

a.             BELIEVES that adolescents are, indeed, sexual beings whose sexuality comprises a major aspect of their lives;

b.             BELIEVES that sexuality of adolescents contributes to major health concerns, such as pregnancy and abortion, contraception, sexually transmitted diseases and mental health;

c.             BELIEVES that a minor should not be required to have consent of a legal guardian to authorize access to contraceptive information or methods, prenatal care, abortion, diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, and counseling for problems dealing with sexual orientation and gender identity, and SUPPORTS the enactment of laws that give minors legal access to the above mentioned services without the consent of a legal guardian;

d.             BELIEVES that the adolescent has a right to confidentiality on the part of the health-care provider concerning sexual and sexually related medical problems;

e.             BELIEVES that an adolescent has the right to express his/her sexual orientation and gender identity and have this preference respected;

f.              OPPOSES the threat of prosecution for contributing to the delinquency of a minor against adults counseling minors on sexual matters, especially in the cases of counseling on gay/lesbian sexual orientation;

g.             BELIEVES that the long-term effects of adolescent pregnancy, such as the extremely high dropout rate, severely decreased wage earning capacity, high dependency upon public assistance, and the devastating chronic effects upon the children of adolescent parents, can be substantially reduced by preventive social programs, and OPPOSES reductions in federal funding of such programs;

h.             BELIEVES that the creation of barriers to access to sexually related health-care services and information will not decrease the level of sexual activity among adolescents, and OPPOSES social programs that are based upon the principles of “abstinence and self-discipline” as the only solution to the consequences of adolescent sexual activity which could create an access barrier;

i.              BELIEVES that the pregnant adolescent has the right to continue her education and not be forced either to change schools or discontinue her education due to her pregnancy;

j.              RECOGNIZES that pregnant adolescents should receive adequate prenatal care regardless of age, and URGES the establishment, in clinics, of programs that provide comprehensive prenatal care geared toward the special needs of the pregnant adolescent and her partner;

k.             SUPPORTS efforts that will lead to contraceptive methods specifically designed for the needs of adolescents.

l.              BELIEVES that sex education and pregnancy prevention counseling must be provided to boys and girls. (1995)

m.            ASSERTS that in order for any adolescent pregnancy prevention program to be successful, adolescents must be educated about and have convenient and confidential access to culturally appropriate and age-appropriate contraceptive methods and family planning services. (1995)

n.             SUPPORTS parenting classes for all pregnant and parenting teenagers. (1995)

o.             BELIEVES that bearing a child during adolescence may place teenagers at a high risk of later poverty and low educational achievement, and imposes upon them a significant risk for needing public assistance. (1995)

p.             URGES the provision of support services to all pregnant and parenting teenagers to enable them to participate in appropriate educational/vocational activity or to find and maintain employment.  These support services include, but are not limited to: (1995)

1.             child care;

2.             health care; 

3.             transportation;

4.             family planning and parenting classes;

5.             supplemental food programs and nutrition counseling;

6.             alcohol and drug abuse prevention services.

q.             URGES that the use of long-term contraception be combined with education on the transmission and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. (1995)

r.              OPPOSES policies of federal, state, and local agencies that prohibit the discussion and demonstration of proper contraceptive usage to adolescents through a health or sexual education curriculum. (1997)

9.             Regarding education:

a.             SUPPORTS the rights of adolescents with children to have access to educational opportunities equivalent to those available to adolescents without children; (1995)

b.             URGES educational institutions, including those of higher learning, to make efforts to enroll and support adolescents with children. (1995)

10.           Supports the rights of children and adolescents to have access to health and educational services regardless of their country of origin or citizenship status, and opposes any laws that would curtail such access. (1995)

11.           In regard to violence: (1996)

                a.             BELIEVES that violence is a serious and often overwhelming threat in an adolescent's life;

b.             SUPPORTS the availability of primary, secondary and tertiary violence prevention services for children and adolescents, including access to mental health services when necessary; (1996)

c.             ENCOURAGES physicians and health-care professionals to discuss violence with parents, and children and adolescents. (1996)