California Family Code Section 6925 allows any minor to consent, on their own, to medical care related to the prevention or treatment of pregnancy. The statute sets no minimum age, requires no showing of maturity or independent living, and does not ask whether a parent agrees. The one procedure it carves out is sterilization, which still requires a parent or guardian’s consent, and which federal rules block for anyone under 21 in most settings anyway.1California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6925 – Consent by Minor
Who Can Consent
Subdivision (a) grants consent authority to “a minor” with no further qualifications. No age floor. No maturity test. No requirement that the minor live apart from a parent or manage their own money.1California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6925 – Consent by Minor
That is unusually broad for this chapter of the Family Code. Outpatient mental health care requires the minor to be at least 12.2California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6924 So does care for sexually transmitted diseases and treatment after a sexual assault.3California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6926 Consent to general medical care under Section 6922 requires the minor to be at least 15, living independently, and managing their own finances.4California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6922 Section 6925 draws none of those lines. Under this statute, a 10-year-old and a 17-year-old hold the same authority.
Providers still assess whether a specific patient understands what they are agreeing to. That is a baseline informed-consent obligation for every patient, not a hurdle unique to minors.
What Care Is Covered
The statute reaches “medical care related to the prevention or treatment of pregnancy.” That phrase is intentionally broad, and it reaches both before and after conception.1California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6925 – Consent by Minor In practice, that includes:
- Contraception, including oral contraceptives, IUDs, hormonal implants, injectable contraception, emergency contraception, and barrier methods
- Pregnancy testing and diagnosis, including lab work, urine tests, and ultrasounds
- Prenatal care such as routine checkups, blood panels, glucose screening, and imaging
- Labor and delivery care, including hospital admission, pain management, and surgical delivery where medically necessary
- Postnatal follow-up
- Treatment for complications like ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, and preeclampsia
- Prescriptions tied to pregnancy care, including prenatal vitamins and anti-nausea medication
The connecting thread is the tie to pregnancy. A minor who walks into a clinic with strep throat is not covered by Section 6925. The same minor coming in for an ultrasound, prenatal vitamins, or an IUD is.
What the Statute Doesn’t Cover: Sterilization
Subdivision (b) states that a minor may not be sterilized without a parent or guardian’s consent.1California Legislative Information. California Code Family Code 6925 – Consent by Minor Reversible reproductive care sits inside the minor’s authority; a permanent procedure does not.
Federal law adds a second barrier. Under 42 CFR 50.203, any program that receives federal funding, including Medicaid-participating facilities, can only perform sterilization on someone at least 21 years old at the time consent is obtained.5eCFR. 42 CFR 50.203 – Sterilization of a Mentally Competent Individual Aged 21 or Older Even with a parent’s signature, a minor in California cannot be sterilized at any facility that takes federal money. Between the state statute and the federal rule, the door is effectively closed under 21 in most healthcare settings.
Whether Parents Can See the Records or the Bill
Consent rights matter only if a parent cannot simply call the clinic and ask what happened. California layers several protections on top of Section 6925.
Health and Safety Code Section 123115 blocks parental access directly. A parent or guardian cannot inspect or obtain copies of a minor’s medical records that relate to services provided under Section 6925.6California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 123115 The same statute lets a provider deny parental access to any minor’s records where disclosure would harm the treatment relationship or the minor’s physical safety or psychological well-being.
The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act reinforces the barrier. Under Civil Code Section 56.11, only the minor patient can sign an authorization to release information tied to care they lawfully consented to. A parent cannot sign that release on the minor’s behalf. If a parent calls a provider demanding records from a pregnancy-related visit, the provider must decline without a signed release from the minor.
Billing is the other place confidentiality often unravels, because an Explanation of Benefits usually goes to the policyholder. Insurance Code Section 791.02 addresses this by treating all care under Section 6925 as “sensitive services,” and any minor who can legally consent to that care qualifies as a “protected individual.”7California Legislative Information. California Code Insurance Code 791.02 A protected individual can file a confidential communications request directing the insurer to send all correspondence about sensitive services to a specific address, email, or phone number instead of to the policyholder. Clinic staff who work with adolescents will often help set this up at intake.
Where HIPAA and California law overlap, the stricter standard controls, and for care a minor consented to under Section 6925, California’s prohibition on parental access is usually the stricter rule.8U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HIPAA FAQ – Disclosing Information About a Minor to Parents
When Confidentiality Gives Way
Healthcare providers in California are mandatory reporters of suspected child abuse. That duty applies regardless of the confidentiality protections attached to Section 6925.
Pregnancy alone does not trigger a report. California law is explicit that pregnancy by itself is not grounds for a reasonable suspicion of sexual abuse, so a provider seeing a 16-year-old for prenatal care has no reporting obligation based solely on the pregnancy.
Reporting becomes mandatory when the provider has reason to suspect abuse or unlawful sexual conduct, including circumstances that fall within Penal Code Section 261.5. In that situation, the confidentiality of the medical record does not override the reporting duty.
Who Pays
Section 6925 is silent on who is responsible for the bill. That silence is notable because nearby provisions are not: Section 6922 and Section 6926 both state that parents are not liable for care provided under those sections.4California Legislative Information. California Family Code 6922 In practice, payment is usually routed through public programs rather than a parent’s insurance.
Family PACT covers family planning services for California residents with household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. Minors are eligible, and a parent’s income is excluded from the eligibility calculation, so the minor qualifies on their own income. Enrollment generally requires that the minor not have other family planning coverage, with an exception for anyone who cannot safely use existing coverage because a parent, partner, or spouse could discover the visit.9Family PACT. Am I Eligible
Medi-Cal covers pregnancy-related care for eligible individuals. Between Family PACT and Medi-Cal, most minors without private coverage, or unable to safely use private coverage, can access pregnancy-related services without paying out of pocket, and clinics that see this population know how to route the billing to keep the visit confidential.
Emergencies
When a pregnancy-related emergency brings a minor to the hospital, the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act runs alongside Section 6925. Any patient who arrives at a federally funded emergency department must receive a medical screening exam and stabilization of any emergency condition regardless of age or consent status. Staff should not delay screening while trying to reach a parent.10U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HIPAA Privacy Rule and Disclosures of Information Relating to Reproductive Health Care If an emergency condition exists and guardian consent cannot be obtained, the hospital proceeds under implied consent. Once the patient is stable, decisions about ongoing care return to state law, and Section 6925 continues to give the minor independent authority over pregnancy-related treatment.