Ohio House Bill (HB) 172 – which would eliminate a government program that allows some minors to receive temporary emergency mental health services without consent from a parent or legal guardian – received its second hearing Wednesday before members of the House Health Committee.
Currently, the Ohio Mobile Response and Stabilization Services (MRSS) program allows mental health professionals to provide minors aged 14 and older with temporary outpatient mental health services without obtaining consent from a parent or guardian.
HB 172 would remove that provision from the Ohio Revised Code, requiring a mental health professional to obtain consent from a minor’s parent or guardian before providing any crisis intervention or mental health services – which could result in increased risk of harm for LGBTQ+ youth across the state.
Designed to serve adolescents in crisis, the current law permits up to six sessions or 30 days of mental health care, whichever occurs first.
Mental health professionals are not permitted to prescribe medication during temporary treatment and must terminate treatment and obtain consent from a parent or legal guardian as soon as the temporary window expires.
More broadly, the bill is part of a larger push by House Republicans to boost “parents’ rights” in schools and health care settings following the passage of HB 8 “The Parents’ Bill of Rights,” which requires educators and school staff to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents or guardians, regardless of suspected anti-LGBTQ+ abuse in the home.
Push for ‘parents’ rights’
Members of the House Health Committee heard public testimony in support of the bill from a handful of conservative and Christian organizations, including Ohio Value Voters President John Stover.
Stover – who is also a Christian deacon and trustee at the Cleveland Baptist Church – cited the Parents’ Bill of Rights directly, alleging an incongruence between the MRSS program and standards established via the new law.
“HB 8 gives specific requirements of a school district if a child is dealing with mental health problems,” he said. “How is it that you can have a law that requires parent notification but the government can have a program – the MRSS program – where parents are not going to be notified?”
The larger push for “parents’ rights” in conservative political spaces is often linked directly to anti-transgender legislation, relying on an unsubstantiated narrative that teachers and health care professionals encourage LGBTQ+ and transgender youth to hide their identities from their parents or guardians.
Stover did not mention LGBTQ+ youth directly during his testimony, but implied that discussing an LGBTQ+ identity with a mental health professional should trigger the notification of a parent or legal guardian.
“HB 8 was very specific,” he told committee members. “Any mental health issue outside of a crime shall be reported to the parents.”
Linda Harvey – founder and president of the Columbus-based anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Mission: America – also provided public testimony in favor of the bill. On multiple occasions, Harvey used the phrase “gender ideology,” a term identified by both GLAAD, Human Rights Watch and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as an anti-transgender dogwhistle.
Democrats raise concerns
In written sponsor testimony from May, primary sponsor and conservative Christian pastor Rep. Jonathan Newman (R-Troy) said providing mental health care services to minors without parental consent is “wrong!” – even via a temporary emergency window.
However, medical research suggests otherwise.
Minor medical consent laws that allow young people to maintain some level of confidentiality with their health care provider before turning 18 are associated with improved health outcomes and increased access to care over time.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has praised the program, which also offers direct mobile crisis intervention services and up to six weeks of follow-up care involving a team of mental health care professionals and the minor’s parents or legal guardian.
“The MRSS program is one of the most important tools that we have at our disposal to respond quickly and effectively when a child is experiencing a crisis,” DeWine said earlier this year while announcing an expansion of the program’s services to cover each of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Rep. Karen Brownlee (D-Symmes Twp) formerly worked as a licensed school counselor and witnessed firsthand the benefits of emergency mental health services that MRSS facilitates.
“The MRSS program has been extraordinarily impactful for kids and their families,” Brownlee said. “I want to say very clearly: That program has been a huge success. The way the governor set it up, it relies on family involvement to improve the situation.”
One of only four Democrats on the 13-member committee, Brownlee rejected Stover’s suggestion that mental health professionals and educators could use the law to “keep parents in the dark” regarding their child’s LGBTQ+ identity.
“I would say in almost every single case where MRSS is involved, the [parents or] guardians are notified,” she said. “The only time they would not be notified is if there is imminent danger to the child.”
Democrats raise concerns
LGBTQ+ adults report far higher rates of identity-based abuse and maltreatment from parents, legal guardians and other caregivers during childhood and adolescence than their straight, cisgender peers.
Rep. Rachel Baker (D-Cincinnati) said providing young people with access to a handful of semi-confidential mental health sessions has been a crucial step in identifying and reporting abuse. Baker said a young person may need more than one meeting with a mental health professional in order to feel comfortable disclosing abuse from a parent or guardian.
If school administrators or a mental health professional determines that a child’s parent or guardian has committed a “crime involving abuse or neglect” against the child, they are required to report the crime to law enforcement.
“I don’t see how it plays out unless the disclosure of abuse is the first thing they say to a clinician,” Baker said. “It takes a conversation to know that a crime has happened. I want to make sure we’re protecting that conversation.”
Additionally, Rep. Michele Grim (D-Toledo) – who previously worked as a volunteer staffer for a rape crisis hotline – said the law could also discourage minor victims of sexual assault from reporting incidents if they know their parent or guardian must be notified.
“[HB 172] could limit the ability of a rape crisis counsellor to provide a safe space with a trusted adult who is trained in how to handle these very complex situations,” Grim said.
Among the bill’s cosponsors is disgraced Republican Rep. Rodney Creech (R-West Alexandra), who was stripped of his committee assignments in April and told to resign after an underage family member accused him of sexual assault.
Creech has since publicly denied allegations that he climbed into bed with the teenager while partially clothed and erect, calling them “political” in nature. 🔥
Ignite Action
- The Buckeye Flame’s Ohio LGBTQ+ legislation guide for 2025 can be found here.
- To register to vote or to check your voter eligibility status in the state of Ohio, click here.
- To find contact information for your Ohio state representative, click here.
- To find contact information for your Ohio state senator, click here.
- If you are a young LGBTQ+ person in crisis, please contact the Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor.
- If you are an transgender adult in crisis, please contact the National Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
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