New Jersey-2022-A2153-Introduced

An Act concerning informed consent and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. Informed consent is central to the provision of health care. It embodies the right of each person to body autonomy and to self-determination in health care. At a fundamental level, it means each person has the right to decide on a course of care and treatment based on an accurate understanding of the nature, potential advantages, and potential risks of each treatment option.

b. For people under the age of 18, who are generally held to lack the capacity to make decisions of legal consequence, including decisions related to health care, the minor's parent or legal guardian has the authority to exercise informed consent and make health care decisions on the minor's behalf.

c. Governmental mandates can impinge on the right of each person to self-determination in health care, essentially removing the right for the person to decide for his or her own self whether to be vaccinated, wear a mask, and submit to testing, among others. Mandates of this nature can compel people to take actions that are contrary to their deeply held personal beliefs, or to give up services, programs, and activities they value because they choose not to comply with the mandate.

d. Governmental mandates involving children go a step further, impinging on the right of parents and guardians to make decisions concerning their own children's lives, health, and well-being.

e. As part of its response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declared masks and other facial coverings used to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 to be medical devices, which are subject to FDA regulation.

f. As part of the State's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, New Jersey has implemented a mask mandate for schools, which applies to students, staff, and other persons present at the school.

g. Because masks are considered medical devices by the FDA, it is the determination of the Legislature that the school mask mandate compels New Jersey children to use a medical device without first obtaining informed consent from a parent or guardian.

h. Because the school mask mandate and similar mandates involving medical devices violate the principle of informed consent and undermine the ability of many parents and guardians to raise their children in a manner consistent with their core values and beliefs, it is the intent of the Legislature that medical device mandates affecting minors be expressly subject to the informed consent of the minor's parent or guardian.

2. a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, including any emergency orders, directives, or actions authorized during a state of emergency declared pursuant to P.L.1942, c.251 (C.App.A:9-33 et seq.) or a public health emergency declared in response to P.L.2005, c.222 (C.26:13-1 et seq.), no minor shall be required to utilize a medical device without the informed consent of the minor's parent or guardian.

b. For the purposes of this section, "medical device" means a "device" as defined in subsection (h) of section 201 of the "Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act," 52 Stat. 1040, (21 U.S.C. s.321), as well as any facial covering used to prevent the transmission or spread of a communicable disease.

3. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, including any emergency orders, directives, or actions authorized during a state of emergency or a public health emergency, no minor may be required to utilize a medical device without the informed consent of the minor's parent or guardian. The bill defines "medical device" to mean a medical device as defined in the "Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act," as well as any facial covering used to prevent the transmission or spread of a communicable disease.