Tex. Fam. Code § 32.003 · Subchapter A. CONSENT TO MEDICAL, DENTAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SURGICAL TREATMENT
CONSENT TO TREATMENT BY CHILD.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) A child may consent to medical, dental, psychological, and surgical treatment for the child by a licensed physician or dentist if the child:
(1) is on active duty with the armed services of the United States of America;
(2) is:
(A) 16 years of age or older and resides separate and apart from the child's parents, managing conservator, or guardian, with or without the consent of the parents, managing conservator, or guardian and regardless of the duration of the residence; and
(B) managing the child's own financial affairs, regardless of the source of the income;
(3) consents to the diagnosis and treatment of an infectious, contagious, or communicable disease that is required by law or a rule to be reported by the licensed physician or dentist to a local health officer or the Texas Department of Health, including all diseases within the scope of Section 81.041, Health and Safety Code;
(4) is unmarried and pregnant and consents to hospital, medical, or surgical treatment, other than abortion, related to the pregnancy;
(5) consents to examination and treatment for drug or chemical addiction, drug or chemical dependency, or any other condition directly related to drug or chemical use;
(6) is unmarried, is the parent of a child, and has actual custody of his or her child and consents to medical, dental, psychological, or surgical treatment for the child; or
(7) is serving a term of confinement in a facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, unless the treatment would constitute a prohibited practice under Section 164.052(a)(19), Occupations Code.
(b) Consent by a child to medical, dental, psychological, and surgical treatment under this section is not subject to disaffirmance because of minority.
(c) Consent of the parents, managing conservator, or guardian of a child is not necessary in order to authorize hospital, medical, surgical, or dental care under this section.
(d) A licensed physician, dentist, or psychologist may, with or without the consent of a child who is a patient, advise the parents, managing conservator, or guardian of the child of the treatment given to or needed by the child.
(e) A physician, dentist, psychologist, hospital, or medical facility is not liable for the examination and treatment of a child under this section except for the provider's or the facility's own acts of negligence.
(f) A physician, dentist, psychologist, hospital, or medical facility may rely on the written statement of the child containing the grounds on which the child has capacity to consent to the child's medical treatment.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 751, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 821, Sec. 2.01, eff. June 14, 2001.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1227 (H.B. 2389), Sec. 2, eff. June 15, 2007.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/FA/htm/FA.32.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 03dad2dbb959466e70f4892c6366accc57e9b9677bdd2bb7cf9d9902db9993ec
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Cited by 4 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Fam. Code § 32.003. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Code of Criminal Procedure
Family Code
- Tex. Fam. Code § 32.1011CONSENT TO IMMUNIZATION BY CHILD.Printed as Section 32.003 | Section 32.003 or 32.101
- Tex. Fam. Code § 32.202CONSENT TO EMERGENCY SHELTER OR CARE BY MINOR.Printed as Section 32.003
- Tex. Fam. Code § 32.203CONSENT BY MINOR TO HOUSING OR CARE PROVIDED THROUGH TRANSITIONAL LIVING PROGRAM.Printed as Section 32.003
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.