Imagine going in for surgery and later finding out that during your surgery -- without consent -- medical students practiced pelvic exam skills on you. Fewer than 10 states in the United States have laws against this practice.

Missouri isn’t one of them.

Representative Shamed Dogan hopes his pre-filed Bill 1924 will be up for discussion in this legislative session. Missouri's legislative session begins Wednesday.

“I’ve talked to former students at some of the schools in Missouri and they said, yeah we’ve done this. It’s part of our education,” Dogan tells KY3.

“The interesting thing is that medical schools are very hush-hush about this.”

This is the second year Dogan has brought this bill to the legislature but this year he feels confident it will get more attention than it did before.

Pelvic exams are one way doctors can test for any abnormalities in women that could affect their health or reproduction. It’s also an important skill for doctors to be able to have.

The bill isn’t asking for this sort of practice to stop altogether, instead, it asks that women have the opportunity to decide if they mind it happening and to have to sign off on a consent form.

Dogan modeled his bill after one passed in Illinois. The bill says these pelvic exams can’t happen unless the patient has given specific informed consent, the examination is necessary for diagnosis or treatment, or if the court orders the examination as evidence.

"You talk to schools and some of the representatives at the schools kind of deny it," Dogan said. "When we introduced this bill I talked to some of the folks that represent these interests in Jefferson City and they said, oh no, we’ve never heard of this, and then you kind of have two points here right? If you’re not doing it shouldn’t be a problem to pass the law but if you are doing it then we need an explanation.”

Dogan says the key he wants to emphasize here is simply consenting.