The state Senate unanimously passed a bill Tuesday requiring written consent to perform pelvic exams on unconscious patients.
Under the bipartisan proposal, hospitals must obtain informed consent from patients in order for medical students and other health care professionals to perform a pelvic exam on a patient who is under general anesthesia. Doctors and medical students sometimes will perform pelvic exams for educational purposes when a patient is under anesthesia.
Prior to the vote on the Senate floor, Sen. Andre Jacque, R-New Franken, one of the bill’s cosponsors, said the bill will improve doctor-patient relationships by requiring explicit consent rather than performing an unnecessary procedure on someone who is “both unknowing as well as unconsented” for solely educational purposes.
“What this [bill] is doing is providing protections for both patients as well as the medical students, who previously felt pressure to basically be coerced into performing a procedure, an intimate procedure, for no purpose, for the patient,” Jacque said.
At least 20 states have passed laws requiring a patient’s consent to perform pelvic exams, and in 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released new guidance requiring consent for breast, pelvic, prostate and rectal exams “for education and training purposes.”
A similar bill was introduced in Wisconsin during the legislative session but did not make it far in the legislative process.
In a 2024 survey of osteopathic medical students from across the country, 57.1% of respondents of the 40.9% who had administered a pelvic exam to anesthetized patients did not report obtaining consent before the procedure. A 2022 survey across five medical institutions found that 84% of respondents performed at least one pelvic exam on an anesthetized patient.
The bill is now on its way to the Assembly floor.
Anna Kleiber is the state news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She previously served as the arts editor. Anna has written in-depth on elections, legislative maps and campus news. She has interned with WisPolitics and Madison Magazine. Follow her on X at @annakleiber03.
