We applaud state Representative Elizabeth Fiedler and Representative Elizabeth Hanbidge for introducing legislation to ban the practice of nonconsensual pelvic exams in Pennsylvania. The practice of performing pelvic exams for the purpose of medical training on patients under anesthesia without specific consent is deeply troubling and should be stopped. The lawmakers first learned of this issue from a constituent concerned she was violated during surgery.
The woman’s experience as told to the lawmakers as they described it in the Penn Capital-Star:
“I was introduced to two medical students. I was never asked or told if they were going to perform a pelvic exam on me ‘for practice’ or ‘experience,’ she said. “To this day I do not know if they examined me or not, because I couldn’t get a straight answer from my gynecologist when I asked her directly about it.”
WLP attorney Amal Bass spoke out in support of the bill at a press conference in the Capitol yesterday.
“This abhorrent practice is a remnant of dangerous paternalism in the field of medicine which, like the society in which it functions, has historically devalued the bodily autonomy of women,” says Bass. “This is especially true for Black and brown women, people with disabilities, queer and gender-nonconforming people, and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This practice is a remainder, and reminder, of the long and shameful legacy of abuse in the name of medical progress, and must stop now.”
Read Amal’s complete remarks here.
Research indicates nonconsensual and invasive practice exams have been performed on patients regardless of gender, though it is often performed on women undergoing gynecological procedures at teaching hospitals. These hospitals, often located in urban centers, serve more diverse populations in terms race, ethnicity, and economic status than non-teaching hospitals, suggesting that these groups disproportionately suffer the disadvantages associated with nonconsensual medical exams.
Under any other circumstances other than this medical context, penetrating a person’s body without their consent while they are unconscious would be categorized and addressed as a crime.
We must also acknowledge how this practice harms medical students, some who have reported feeling shame and regret for not having had the courage to disobey their teaching doctor in a context in which their professional success depends in part on following orders.
Does your Pennsylvania Representative support protecting patient dignity and autonomy by banning this practice? Ask them to sign on to this bill if they have not already.
The Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center devoted to defending and expanding the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ people in Pennsylvania and beyond.
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