Alabama Gov. Ivey signed SB101, raising minors' medical consent age to 16 and requiring parental access to health records

On May 21, 2025, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed Senate Bill 101, enacted as Act 2025-455, raising the age at which a minor may independently consent to medical, dental, and mental-health treatment from 14 to 16. The law took effect October 1, 2025. Sponsored by state Sen. Larry Stutts and carried in the House by state Rep. Susan DuBose, the bill passed the Senate 30-2 before clearing the House.

Under the new law, providers and government entities must grant a parent or legal guardian access to a minor's health information unless a court order bars it or the parent is under investigation for a crime against the child. The law also requires written parental permission for minors under 16 to participate in school counseling services and directs local school boards to adopt policies requiring annual written notice to parents about the availability of student medical and mental-health services. Narrow exceptions preserve minors' ability to independently consent to treatment for sexually transmitted infections, reportable diseases, substance abuse, and pregnancy, and in emergencies or where the minor is pregnant, married, emancipated, or living independently.

Alabama's medical consent age had stood at 14 since 1975, among the lowest thresholds in the nation. The Alabama Campaign for Adolescent Sexual Health warned before passage that removing that confidentiality would jeopardize LGBTQ+ minors' and other vulnerable youths' ability to seek gender-related, mental-health, and reproductive care without risking involuntary disclosure to parents who might not support them.