Pregnant girls should get adult permission before they get medical checkups for their unborn babies, the state House decided as representatives defeated a proposal to allow teenagers to seek confidential prenatal care.

North Dakota law now requires a doctor to have permission from a parent or guardian to treat pregnant girls who are younger than 18.

The rejected measure would have allowed pregnant girls to see a doctor privately, although it required health care providers to try to coax their patients to tell their parents about a pregnancy.

If a pregnant girl was adamant about not telling her parents, the bill allowed a medical provider to inform them anyway if he or she believed doing so would be beneficial. The legislation did not allow a girl to get an abortion without telling her parent or guardian.

"Unfortunately, all we need is one problem pregnancy, and we risk the life of an unborn child," said Rep. Lee Kaldor, D-Mayville. "We need to do whatever we can to protect the unborn child and the mother."

Critics of the measure said they were troubled by the concept of allowing pregnant girls to get prenatal care without their parents' knowledge, even in difficult family situations.

"I've never seen an issue that's hard to address get easier by putting it off," said Rep. Chuck Damschen, R-Hampden. "It drives a wedge between the daughter and the parents, and we don't want that."

Representatives deadlocked 46-46 on the legislation Friday. A bill needs at least 48 votes to win approval in the House. In January, the bill sailed through the Senate, 46-0, without stirring any Senate floor debate.

Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, said the legislation left too much decision-making power in the hands of doctors.

"One of the most important points in a minor girl's life would be when she faces this pregnancy, and to allow a … health care provider to become the parent for that daughter, and for that health care provider to make the decision whether or not the family is going to be involved, is absolutely wrong," Kasper said.

He said the argument that the bill would help girls in abusive situations was not strong enough to allow any pregnant girl to seek prenatal care in confidence.

"In the vast, vast, vast majority of cases, that family cares for and loves that daughter, and they need to be involved," Kasper said.

North Dakota law already allows children 14 years old and older to seek confidential treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, alcoholism or drug addiction.

"Vast generations have been born without the type of medical care and prenatal care that we have today," said Rep. Dan Ruby, R-Minot. "It's great that people get the treatment early, but we don't need to do something that is going to take away the authority of the parents, who are responsible for paying the bills."

The bill is SB2181.