Idaho State Police’s sexual assault nurse coordinator told Idaho Reports that the new law prevents law enforcement from administering rape kits to minors without parental permission.
SB 1329’s legal impact was evident in recently revamped healthcare statements issued by St. Mary’s Health and Clearwater Valley Health, Terry Reilly Health Services and a cohort of other providers making it clear that minors will not be offered non-emergency care without parental permission.
Children were already not allowed to receive medical care without parental permission in the majority of cases before the passage of SB 1329 according to the American Medical Association, but exceptions for emergency and sexual healthcare are in place in several states including Washington.
This is more about denying the state evidence of who assaulted the child. As one might do if the attacker were a family member that the parents wanted to protect, such as a brother or the father himself.
I don’t understand: how would prohibiting LE from “administering” a rape kit to a raped minor “deny the state evidence” of who did the raping. Wouldn’t LE still know who the rapist was, independently of whatever medical care the victim received?
No, a “rape kit” is a colloquialism for the standard set of sexual assault documentation and medical care, which includes providing the victim contraception, presumably prophylaxis, documenting injuries to the victim, cataloguing evidence on the victim’s body, and other things.
A health professional could go into more detail or correct me, this is what I know from conversation.
They wouldn’t be able to collect semen. Can someone be prosecuted without that? Sure, but the rape kit would sure help. Especially if the family says it’s all a lie.
Someone I know was flat out forced to recant what she had told a teacher. Getting a rape kit before someone can be forced to recant would be huge in a case like that.