What do you do when “medical privacy” is used against you? A surprising number of parents are trying to find out. 

Do No Harm (DNH), an anti-woke association of medical professionals, released a report with a shocking consensus: “[P]rominent medical systems and providers use electronic healthcare records (EHRs) to restrict parental access to children’s medical records, enabling providers to hide aspects of pediatric medical transition from parents.” In other words, records are being manipulated to keep secrets from the parents of children who want to receive so-called “gender-affirming care.”

The report, titled “Parental Access to Their Children’s Medical Records is Under Attack,” shed light on how this is being done. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule is designed to safeguard “individuals’ protected health information (PHI) by regulating its use and disclosure by covered entities such as healthcare providers, plans, and clearinghouses.” Parents are typically considered “personal representatives” under HIPAA, granting them access to their children’s records — “except,” the report noted, “when state laws grant minors control over PHI for sensitive services like reproductive health, mental health, or substance abuse treatment.”

Under certain state laws, minors as young as 12 can opt to limit what their parents are told. Yet, the report went further:

“Unfortunately, there has been an extension of these restrictions beyond the limits of law under the guise of privacy restrictions for adolescents in general. The advent of electronic health records (EHRs) has only worsened the limitations on proxy access for parents. ‘Proxy access’ refers to the ability of authorized individuals, such as parents or guardians, to view or manage a patient’s medical records on his or her behalf. Limiting proxy access thereby prevents parents from accessing critical health information about their child that would otherwise be legally permissible.”

DNH argued that “existing regulations should be upheld to prevent healthcare facilities from using EHRs to unlawfully restrict parental access to their child’s medical information.” Dr. Ryan H. Pasternak, division director of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, provided one example of those who actively push to exclude parents. “[I]t’s developmentally expected and clinically appropriate to provide confidential care to youth,” Pasternak claimed, further arguing that part of becoming an adult is having “a developmental need for emerging and increasing autonomy,” which includes “making mistakes on our own.”

As the report revealed, some medical agencies have implemented the following:

• Allowing the adolescent to “become the owner of their patient portal at an age designated by the institution.”
• Omitting specific labs commonly performed on adolescents from the patient portal.
• Configuring the EHR to make adolescent notes confidential and trigger a warning when accessed.
• Withholding adolescent visit records from chart copies unless approved by a physician.
• Turning off portal access during a “sensitive period,” though this may “undermine communication with providers.”

When it comes to EHRs, DNH stressed they have a major role to play “in determining access to the information in one’s medical record.” The fear is that “these vendors may be enabling — or even reinforcing — restrictions on parental rights through the way these systems are marketed and customized for clients. This is done under the veil of ‘privacy’ for the adolescent, typically intended for sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing or birth control access, to conceal social transition and other so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ actions, such as the use of preferred pronouns.”

The two most widely purchased EHRs outlined in the report are Epic (41% of the market) and Oracle Health (22% of the market) — both of which promote “inclusive” ideologies and “gender-affirming principles.” DNH’s Director of Programs Michelle Havrilla underscored how “the Epic-Oracle duopoly provides the framework for activist physicians to funnel minors into the gender cult without parental knowledge or consent.” Whether it be “doctors asking kids about their sexuality to parents being blocked from their child’s medical decisions, transgender politics are increasingly pushed on children — and EHR companies design the systems that enable and sometimes encourage this.”

A state-by-state analysis only unveiled further concerns. Georgia Wellstar Health System, for example, uses Epic, and “the CHILD must authorize … access for their parent or guardian” to view medical records. For certain systems in North Carolina and beyond, many parents and guardians’ access becomes restricted once the child turns 13 — Oracle’s default “protected status” age. The Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. has a “Teen Health Survey Page,” with certain aspects ordered without parental supervision. Some of the questions or statements for children to read or respond to are:

• “What sex were you assigned at birth, on your original birth certificate? Male, Female”
• “Please select your pronouns. (Please check all that apply): She/Her/Hers, He/Him/His, Ze/Hir/Hirs, They/Them/Theirs, No Pronouns, No Preference, Not Listed”
• “Sex or sexual intercourse can mean different things to different people and people can have sex with others of the same or different gender.”

When examining all the evidence, DNH reaches a resolute conclusion: “The duty of all healthcare providers is to do no harm.” Yet, “unfortunately, the organizations and providers pushing for confidentiality of an adolescent’s entire medical record, beyond the scope of existing state law, are putting children at great risk by burdening them with significant healthcare decisions without the guidance of loving parents or guardians.”

“The priority,” DNH continued, “must be safeguarding children’s health and well-being, which inherently includes upholding the rights of parents to carry out their responsibilities in guiding and caring for their children. … Current regulations must be enforced to reduce healthcare facilities’ use of EHRs to block parents’ access to their minor’s medical records. Failure to comply should result in monetary penalties.”

January Littlejohn, a mom and active participant in the fight against “gender-affirming care” for minors, reacted on X. “Parents are cut out of online medical portals starting at age 12,” she wrote. “This is a NATIONAL issue, even here in FL. I hope lawmakers fix this issue. Parents know [and] love their children more than anyone else [and] should never be cut out of medical decisions.” Alleigh Marré, executive director of the American Parents Coalition, encouraged “every parent” to read the report. “Hospitals and Big Tech are actively cutting parents out of their own children’s care,” she added, “then hiding behind ‘privacy.’”

DNH’s Havrilla ultimately concluded, “This report should be a wake-up call to legislators and medical professionals across the country: empower parents, protect kids, fix the system.”