According to multiple studies and reports, medical students in most states are allowed to enter an operating room under supervision while female patients are under anesthesia for other procedures, insert two fingers into their vaginas and place a hand on their abdomens to learn how to feel for abnormalities in the uteri and ovaries. | Getty Images New bills would ban pelvic exams without consent

Legislation introduced this month in Albany would make New York the sixth state in the nation to ban non-consensual pelvic exams at hospitals amid outcry that the procedure represents a violation of patients' rights.

According to multiple studies and reports, medical students in most states are allowed to enter an operating room under supervision while female patients are under anesthesia for other procedures, insert two fingers into their vaginas and place a hand on their abdomens to learn how to feel for abnormalities in the uteri and ovaries. Often, the women have no knowledge they are being subjected to the procedure and have never given prior consent.


“There are certain expectations you have when you visit your doctor, and it’s not that your body is going to be taken advantage of if they have to put you under anesthesia," said state Sen. Roxanne Persaud (D-Brooklyn), in an interview. “And that’s what’s happening.”

Persaud, along with Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D-Nassau), introduced legislation earlier this month to ban the exams on unconscious or anesthetized women without consent.

Such exams would be considered professional misconduct, according to the bill language.

“It’s a pure violation to find out after the fact that you had individuals examining you for no medical benefit,” Solages said.

Persaud and Solages said their bills require hospitals to report the number of pelvic exams conducted on unconscious or anesthetized women. Both legislators said they did not know how many non-consensual pelvic exams were performed on women at teaching hospitals across the state, but said it is a common practice nationwide.

The bills have been referred to their respective health committees.

Solages said that she looks forward to collaborating with her colleagues in the Assembly on the bill, A06325.

“As a deliberative body, we cannot minimize the ethical issues raised when these exams are performed,” she said. “However, it is important to note that many of the concerns surrounding the procedure could be alleviated by simply gaining consent from the woman prior to the application of anesthesia."

The Assembly is also mulling another bill, A4988, which requires informed consent for all procedures done for education or training purposes.

Dr. Eli Adashi, a professor of medical science at Brown University’s medical school, described non-consensual pelvic exams as “ethically untenable.”

“There is no worldly reason why this should happen in the first place,” Adashi said. “Medical students going forward will not be doing this, we hope.”

He cited the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which concluded in 2017 that “current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of performing screening pelvic examinations in asymptomatic, nonpregnant adult women.”

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Medical Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges have also condemned the practice.

More medical schools are using paid volunteers for student training, Adashi added.

NYU Langone Health uses “employed pelvic trainers” — women who are paid to undergo exams and give feedback to students — as “the primary mode of teaching these exams,” said Dr. David Keefe, a cell biology professor and chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at the health system’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Langone officials added that residents and medical students do perform pelvic exams on admitted patients, though it is limited to those undergoing gynecological surgery. Patients are asked to consent prior to surgery, according to the health system.

“During the consenting process before surgery, the gynecologist surgeon explains to the patient that we need to do an exam under anesthesia before starting the surgery to make sure we understand the specifics of the patient’s anatomy before starting the invasive part of the procedure,” Keefe said.

NewYork-Presbyterian declined to comment on whether its medical students conduct non-consensual pelvic exams.