A Senate committee approved the bill Thursday: lower the age of consent Minors can receive outpatient mental and behavioral health care from 4 to 4 p.m. outside of testimony hours, much of which was completely unrelated to the bill.
The Senate Health Committee approved the bill on a 3-1 vote, with Sen. Bob Singer (R-Ocean) abstaining.Sen. Owen Henry (R-Middlesex) was the only senator to vote against the bill. invoicechanges a single word in state law.
“The only change to current law is to lower the age of access from 16 to 14. Everything else in current law remains unchanged,” said Sen. Joe Vitale (D). (Middlesex County), but reminded us of this point, which many witnesses continued to ignore.
The bill is an effort to increase the availability of mental health services for young people, whose suicide rate reached its highest level in nearly 30 years in 2021. But the bill drew considerable opposition from critics who accused the state of trying to cut them. About raising children.
Supporters of the bill said it was needed to address growing desperation among young people and to provide an avenue of care for students with abusive or indifferent parents.
“My parents never paid any attention to me. They were always on cloud nine and on drugs,” said Trinity Campbell, a high school senior. “You might have an abusive parent. I remember my dad saying to me once, 'I'm telling everyone, I'm going to punch you in the face.' Who wants that? It scares kids, it really does. ”
Campbell said she received help through the Hudson County chapter of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, but her parents tried to stop her from receiving counseling through the nonprofit youth organization.
Much of Thursday's testimony centered on notifying parents.
Opponents of the bill pointed out that parental involvement helps prevent suicide. Research shows that teenagers with uninvolved parents are more likely to attempt suicide than children born into families with caring parents.
“Successful treatment requires more parental involvement, not less,” said Sean Hyland, advocacy director at the New Jersey Family Policy Center, a religious organization. .
Supporters did not dispute this, but pointed out that it does not apply to all children.
“We know that everyone sincerely would like to believe that all children live in supportive and safe home environments, but we know for certain that this is not true. “We know that,” said Lauren Albrecht, advocacy and organizing director for the LGBT rights group Garden State Equality. . “We know that every family would like to believe that their teen is providing a home where they can talk privately about mental health, but we also know that's not true. .”
Other lawmakers, including Republican and former state Sen. Ed Dahl, compared mental health care to gun ownership and drug use and questioned why lawmakers aren't moving to lower age limits for firearms, alcohol and smoking. It showed.
“In New Jersey, no person under the age of 18 may legally vote or participate in any election, purchase or consume alcohol, or purchase or possess tobacco products. It couldn’t be simpler. No. Parents, or guardians, must always be involved in all decisions regarding their children and their welfare,” Dru said.
Many witnesses appeared to have only a minimal grasp of what the bill would actually change. Some falsely claimed that the bill would allow medical professionals to dispense or administer drugs to minors without parental consent. it's not.
The bill also makes no changes to current law, including a provision that allows doctors to withhold parental notification for minors who have been sexually assaulted if doing so is not in the best interests of the child. Some people objected. Have you experienced violence from your parents?
And, inexplicably, some argued that the bill would somehow abolish the Child Protection and Permanency Division. Others spread conspiracies and accused, without evidence, that the bill would lead to child sex trafficking by social workers.
“When you get down to what the facts are and what it actually does, there's nothing as egregious as is being suggested,” Vitale said. “It's just an age thing. It wasn't about pedophilia or transgender or some crazy catchphrase that I just can't stand. It's unfair and it's ugly, ugly.”
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