Ryan Nicol
The Senate Health Policy Committee OK’d a bill looking to clear up language in last year’s legislation requiring affirmative consent for pelvic examination procedures.
Last year’s bill and this year’s clarifying measure (SB 716) both come from Sen. Lauren Book, a Plantation Democrat.
Before the 2020 Session, Book introduced a measure aiming to make sure female patients offer consent before those examinations. Book cited shocking reports showing medical students could perform pelvic checks on anesthetized patients who may agree to a general exam routine but don’t explicitly consent to those more invasive procedures.
The bill, as approved by lawmakers and signed by the Governor, caused some confusion, however. Doctors said the bill was too vague and expressed concern consent would be required for checking infants for diaper rashes or other procedures not meant to be covered.
Another issue arose as to whether the bill applied to men, who could be affected when seeking a prostate exam, for instance. In October, the Florida Board of Medicine ruled the 2020 law was only meant to apply to women.
Book’s follow-up bill this Session aims to make these issues clearer. The original bill said consent was required for exams of the vagina, uterus and other parts of the female anatomy. But the bill also included non-sex specific terms such as exams on the “rectum” or “external pelvic tissue.”
Book’s new measure eliminates that language and replaces it with “organs of the female internal reproductive system.” Only those such exams require heightened levels of consent, making clear the bill applies to biological females.
The consent measures will also now apply to “an anesthetized or unconscious” patient, seeking to remove the extra layer of scrutiny for a conscious patient. And where pelvic exams are “in the standard of care for a procedure to which the patient or the patient’s legal representative has consented,” extra consent is also not required. That covers patients who, for instance, willingly show up for a gynecological exam.
The measure will next head to the Senate Judiciary Committee followed by a final stop in the Rules Committee. House Democratic Co-Leader Evan Jenne is fronting a companion bill in the House (HB 361).
