Florida’s 2020 legislative session is at the halfway point and one of the bills being discussed is a pelvic exam consent bill would ban medical students from performing this intrusive exam on unconscious women without prior consent.
In other words, women must first consent to be vaginally probed while under general anesthesia for a completely separate medical procedure.
Being someone that has undergone over 14 surgeries (mostly sports-related orthopedic procedures), I would hate to find out that some medical student was rooting around my tush in order to check my Prostate just because some doctor gave him or her the OK to do so.
According to state Senator Lauren Book (D), this is a very common practice that medical students are allowed to engage in. Book believes that “women should give express consent” before they undergo an exam that carries “no medical benefit” to them.
Book also added that this procedure is completely legal, saying that there was “nothing in Florida law” that prevented it.
Just a few weeks ago, Book introduced SB 1184, a bill that would allow child sexual abuse cases, whose statute of limitations has expired, be reopened for a period of one year.
