By Ryan Sabalow. Bay City News.
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Should doctors be required by law to notify the police immediately if they suspect a patient is a victim of domestic violence?
That question divided three doctors who held seats in the California Assembly when it came up for a vote this week.
Under current law, health care providers face misdemeanor charges if they do not report suspected abuse to police, even if patients do not want police to get involved.
In recent years, some advocates for domestic violence survivors say mandatory reporting requirements have prevented victims from seeking treatment.
Advocates say victims fear that if they call the police, they will be charged, their children will be taken away, or, in the case of undocumented immigrants, their families will be at risk of deportation.
“We have seen the ways in which mandatory medical reporting requirements for all violent injuries have prevented survivors from seeking necessary medical care in the first place, made survivors feel like they would never be able to receive medical care again after know about the requirements, or have made them feel they cannot share the reason or extent of certain injuries or health problems with their provider,” the bill's author, Democratic Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor of Inglewood, told the Assembly Public Safety Committee.
McKinnor's bill would require doctors and other health care providers to report to police only acts of violence that require treatment to save the patient's life.
In other suspected cases of abuse, if the patient does not want to report the crime, the health care provider must refer the patient to victim advocacy services. The bill still requires doctors to report suspected child and elder abuse.
McKinnor introduced a similar bill last year. He died in the state Senate after passing through the Assembly. On Monday, this year's bill barely made it through the full Assembly. A bill needs 41 votes to be approved in plenary. This one was 42.
Democratic Assemblyman Joaquín Arámbula, a former Fresno emergency room doctor, was one of 42 lawmakers, all Democrats, who voted in favor of the bill.
He told CalMatters on Thursday that he voted for the latest bill because it would require doctors to report life-threatening injuries. The previous bill, which he did not vote for, did not include that requirement.
“I didn't want to lose that, as we should focus on those who are most at risk to life,” he said. “And I think this is a good, measured approach.”
The other Assembly doctor who voted in favor of the bill was Assemblyman Akilah Weber of La Mesa, an obstetrician and gynecologist. She did not respond to CalMatters' interview requests.
Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains, a Bakersfield family physician, was among three Democratic assembly members who voted “no,” along with 12 Republicans.
She told CalMatters Thursday that she believes her fellow doctors regularly stop the abuse from continuing when they file police reports. She worries that families will suffer if doctors are no longer required to report.
“I worry about family structures,” he said. “I worry about the environment that children grow up in if perpetrators are not held accountable, because sometimes it is that piece that breaks the cycle of violence in homes.”
Twenty-three bipartisan Assembly members did not vote on McKinnor's bill. Not voting counts the same as voting “no.”
As CalMatters reported, lawmakers regularly refuse to vote to avoid coming out against a controversial bill.
The bill now goes to the Senate. Last year's bill died after passing the Senate Public Safety Committee.
Read the original note clicking here.
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