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COURT SETS PRECEDENT IN KANSAS "KISS AND TELL" CASE

Judge Rules that Attorney General's "Kiss and Tell" Policy Will Drive Teens Away from Seeking Medical Care

On April 18, 2006, a federal district court in Kansas stopped the Attorney General Phill Kline from enforcing a legal interpretation that threatened to intrude upon teenagers’ medical privacy under the pretext of protecting them from child abuse. The judge permanently blocked enforcement of Kline's legal opinion, declaring it irreparably harmful and recognized that minors have a right to informational privacy concerning sexual activity.

"We are extremely pleased that, for the first time, a federal court has protected young people from a state’s attempt to intrude in the private communications between teens and health-care providers. Any threat to that privacy will drive teens away from health-care services, endangering their well-being instead of protecting it," said Bonnie Scott Jones, lead attorney in the case and staff attorney at the Center. "States cannot be allowed to simply pull up a chair in every doctor's office in the state and listen in on teenagers seeking health services."

The judge recognized that, "Automatic mandatory reporting of illegal sexual activity involving a minor will change the nature of the relationship between a health care provider and the minor patient to some degree," and that studies establish that the kiss and tell policy would cause "a significant decrease in minors seeking care and treatment related to sexual activity." Kansas has appealed the district court decision and the case is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. An argument date has not yet been scheduled.

Click here to read the full text of the Opinion > >

Background
The Center's case in Kansas began in 2003 when the state's Attorney General Phill Kline issued an interpretation of a child-abuse reporting law that required doctors, school counselors and psychotherapists, among others, to report sexual activity involving a teen younger than 16 as evidence of child-abuse, even if the activity is with another adolescent. The policy would, in effect, force a therapist to report her 15-year-old client who disclosed that she was "making out" with her 15-year-old boyfriend.

On October 3, 2003, the Center filed a lawsuit challenging Kline's interpretation on behalf of a group of health-care providers and counseling professionals. The trial wrapped up on February 9, 2006, after nearly two weeks of testimony.

The American Medical Association and numerous other major medical groups, including the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry and American Psychiatric Association, oppose Kline's policy because it would deter teenagers from seeking health care and counseling, including contraceptive services and information on prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. These medical organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the plaintiff's case.

Kansas' law is part of a trend by the anti-choice movement to use child-abuse reporting laws to scare adolescents away from reproductive health care.

One-on-One with a Kansas Therapist

Beth McGilley is a clinical psychologist and eating disorders specialist in Wichita, Kansas. She is a plaintiff in the Center’s case.

  • Click here to read an interview with Beth McGilley
  • Click Here to read Beth McGilley's contribution to the PBS show: "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly" > > (February 10, 2006 -- Episode no. 924)

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    • Rights of Adolescents The Center for Reproductive Rights works to support the rights of young people to obtain confidential reproductive health care and age-appropriate sexuality education.