So, children "belong" to parents and have no rights? This father thinks so...I bet the Bronx father who raped and murdered his 14 year old daughter who was pregnant with his child thought she belonged to him too.

Funny isn't it that people who oppose abortion say the unborn fetus has rights but apparently children have none other than those their parents grant them? Bull$it!



By Mac McLean
Reporter / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: April 21, 2009

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – Sullivan Gardens resident Sid Daugherty didn’t know he’d end up in the middle of a political debate when he asked to see the results of a drug test his 13-year-old son had two months ago.

But Daugherty and his son are behind legislation being carried through the Tennessee General Assembly that would give parents access to the results of any medical tests or procedures performed on their children.

On Monday, the Sullivan County Commission voted 16-3 in favor of a resolution voicing its support for this proposed law, which some have argued could deter children from seeking out medical care in some cases.

“Parents don’t have the rights you think they have,” Daugherty said Monday as he told commissioners about the proposed law and the story behind it.

Daugherty said he took his son to the doctor’s office two months ago because the 13-year-old was having problems with some medications he was taking. The doctors asked if they could perform a drug test, he said, because they wanted to see if the teen might be taking any illegal drugs that could have an adverse effect on the medication.

“It never concerned me that [my son] was using drugs,” said Daugherty, who refused to identify his child’s doctor or where the drug test was conducted.

Daugherty said he then asked to see the results of the drug test, but the doctor wouldn’t allow him to, saying it would interfere with his son’s right to privacy.

“Our children belong to us,” Daugherty said as he questioned the doctor’s rationale for refusing to release the test results. “The only rights my son have is what I give him.”

Daugherty said the doctors would only release the information if they got permission directly from his son. The doctor’s office called Daugherty’s house twice to try to get that permission, but both times Daugherty said he refused to let them talk to his son.

Daugherty said he’d rather force the doctors to release his son’s test results and he has found an ally in the Tennessee General Assembly.

In March, state Rep. Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport, introduced a bill that would require doctors to provide parents with any information about their children. The legislation, House Bill 1762, is slated to go before a House subcommittee for a vote today.

Though the state could lose out on $6.5 million worth of federal funds for family planning services, Shipley said he could not think of any federal or state laws barring doctors from releasing information about a child’s medical condition to his or her parents.

“What we’re looking at is the establishment of a tradition,” Shipley said Monday, adding that he hopes the legislation would clarify any vague areas when it comes to determining an age of consent for the release of medical records.

The bill would not apply to potential child abuse or neglect cases in which doctors think releasing the medical information would end up hurting the child, Shipley said. But even so, the legislation is not without its detractors.

When she testified against the legislation in committee last week, Tennessee Medical Association spokeswoman Nicole Schlecther said many young people may not feel comfortable talking about their medical condition with their parents, especially when it came to topics like sex or reproductive health. As a result, she said the bill could discourage them from getting medical attention.

County Commissioner Linda Brittenham echoed this sentiment on Monday when she voted against the resolution sponsored by Joe Herron of Kingsport.

She said the law may violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, which requires doctors, health care workers and agencies to get consent from patients before releasing medical information. But HIPAA leaves most age of consent decisions up to the states, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The law does allow doctors to withhold this information if they feel doing so could endanger the child.

“We’ve got to protect [the rights of] all the children and not this one family,” Brittenham said while the commission debated the resolution.

gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518

some people feel that way since until the age of at least 16 they are responsible for their children. They pay everything their child needs so should have a right to information about the child. As a child I had no privacy until I was 18, even when i lived in a foster home, the bedrooms had no doors and I had to share a room with another kid. I got no privacy until I moved out on my own.

When I had tests run the test results were given to both my mother and the department of social services or department of child protection whichever you want to call it. I don't agree with his wording but basically he's right.

Children are not property but they are the responsibility of the parents.

Since society makes me responsible for anything my children do...

you damn straight those same children ain't going to be doing anything I don't allow. (and when they attempt to... Bet your butt I will hand out some discpline quick).

sorry but as I said in another thread...there are cases for abortion where no one should judge...just like this one.

that is so sick and wrong IMO

now...children aren't property but parents are resopnsible for them and has to parent them....there is a big difference and people like this guy can't see that