44-132. Capacity of minor to obtain hospital,
medical and surgical care; definition
A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law except as provided in title 36,
chapter 20, article 1, and without limiting cases in which consent may otherwise be
obtained or is not required, any emancipated minor, any minor who has contracted a lawful
marriage or any homeless minor may give consent to the furnishing of hospital, medical
and surgical care to such minor, and such consent shall not be subject to disaffirmance
because of minority. The consent of the parent, or parents, of such a person is not
necessary in order to authorize hospital, medical and surgical care. For the purposes of
this section only, subsequent judgment of annulment of such marriage or judgment of
divorce shall not deprive such person of his adult status once attained.
B. A health care provider acting in reliance on the consent of a minor who has
authority or apparent authority pursuant to this section to consent to health care is not
subject to criminal and civil liability and professional disciplinary action on the
ground that he or she failed to obtain consent of the minor's parent, parents or legal
guardian. This subsection does not affect any other cause of action permitted under
title 12, chapter 5.1.
C. For purposes of this section, a homeless minor is an individual under the age of
eighteen years living apart from his parents and who lacks a fixed and regular nighttime
residence or whose primary residence is either a supervised shelter designed to provide
temporary accommodations, a halfway house or a place not designed for or ordinarily used
for sleeping by humans.
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