When Christy Duffy took her 17-year-old daughter to her
local hospital in Michigan, she was stunned to see a notice posted alerting
parents that a nurse will need to “have a short 5 minute private conversation
with your child.”
In a fiery
blog post published on Monday, Duffy took a bold stand in favor of parental
rights. She explains how the situation unfolded:
I was there last week for an appointment for Amy. She hurt
her foot, which makes dancing difficult, so we had to get that checked out. Amy
is 17; I asked if this policy was in effect and if so, how could I opt out. The
receptionist told me it’s a new law and there is no opting out. Working to keep
my cool, I said, “I’m sure there is.” She said, “No, there isn’t.” At which
point I asked if I needed to leave and go to the urgent care center because I
was not submitting my daughter to such a conversation.
That did not go over well
The receptionist closed the window. Almost immediately, the
office manager turned the corner and said, “Mrs. Duffy, may I speak with you?”
She said there was a new policy that would allow a child to
access his/her medical records online and the child would be allowed to block a
parent from viewing the website. The nurse would also inform my children that
the doctor’s office is a safe place for them to receive information about STDs,
HIV and birth control. That is what the nurse would be chatting about with my
children without any pesky parental oversight.
Refusing to back down, Duffy then says she “politely”
informed the office manager that no one would be talking to her child privately
and asked how she may opt out of the policy before she returned to the hospital
for her daughter’s physical the next month.
“Make sure this is crystal clear: what they want to do is
talk to your child about sex and drugs (maybe rock and roll – who knows?)
without your input,” Duffy writes. “Is it really such a stretch to imagine that a
doctor who does not value abstinence before marriage would encourage your
daughters – as young as 12! – to receive birth control? Is it really such a
stretch to imagine a nurse telling a young boy – because a 12 year old boy is a
BOY – that she will give him condoms so he can be ‘safe’?”
She also made sure to snap a picture of the notice:
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