A Texas judge has ruled against a federal program that enabled minors to obtain birth control from physicians without informing their parents, but did not block clinics from providing them.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled Tuesday that the Title X program violates parental rights and state law.
While he struck down the secrecy component of the Title X program, Kacsmaryk didn’t impose an injunction barring clinics from giving contraceptives to adolescents without parental consent.
According to the ruling (pdf), the secrecy rule violated a Texas Family Code section that gives parents the right to decide their child’s medical care, as well as parents’ 14th Amendment right to control and direct the upbringing of their minor children….