Toni Atkins, the Democratic State Assemblymember from San Diego and sponsor of Assembly bill 499, succeeded today in garnering enough support to approve the measure for improved access to preventive STD services throughout the state of California.
While current regulations permit young people to access preventive care with the involvement of a parent, and also offer treatment services post-diagnosis, Atkins pointed out in her endorsement of the bill that the lack of preventative services for unaccompanied youth simply “doesn’t make sense.”
“Requiring parental involvement is not always realistic or safe” when it comes to accessing STD-prevention services such as vaccinations, Atkins notes, and “we need to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to utilize life-saving preventive medicine.
Since the drafting of most current laws on STD medical treatment for minors, great changes and improvements have come to the field of preventive medicine. A variety of STDS, including certain strains of HPV, can now be prevented with groundbreaking vaccines – treatments that may in turn prevent deadly diseases like cervical cancer.
A handful of states including Alabama, Kansas, Arkansas and Montana have already closed the gap between parentally sanctioned preventive care and post-diagnosis treatment. If AB 499 passes the State Senate, California may one day join them – and San Diego gay and lesbian youth will find themselves with access to better preventive care options throughout the city.
