The intractable issue of abortion threatens to derail congressional efforts to safeguard the privacy of medical records. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., the proposed amendment's chief opponent, says Kennedy is trying to override state notification laws. Brownback says he wants to protect the rights of parents in states that do have notification laws. States should be allowed to enact laws regarding minors' rights without federal interference.
State laws fix the ages at which young people are considered minors.
States also determine which, if any, medical services minors may receive without parental involvement. Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., chairman of the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee, says he will not take a medical records privacy bill to the Senate floor for a vote until opposing sides on the abortion issue work out their differences. Jeffords said he wants support for the bill from at least four of the committee's eight Democrats before he schedules a committee vote. We've been trying for low visibility on this issue to make it easier for the groups to compromise. But it hasn't happened.