Medical providers can no longer perform pelvic exams without receiving consent from a patient, thanks to a new law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Introduced by Valley Stream Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages and Brooklyn senator Roxanne Persaud, the original bill required providers and those supervising medical students to receive informed consent from patients in order to perform a pelvic exam when the patient is under anesthesia or unconscious.
There are some exceptions to the consent requirement, however, according to the Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts advocacy group — if prior consent was already given, if a pelvic exam is in line with the expected procedure, and if the patient is unconscious and a pelvic exam is needed for diagnostic purposes.
“No patient should have to wonder if unconsented exams occurred during an unrelated procedure,” said Robin Chapelle Golston, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts, in a release.
“The unethical practice undermines the patient’s autonomy, and is detrimental to the trust between practitioners and patients.”
New York now joins eight other states requiring informed consent, including California, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Oregon, Utah and Virginia.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is partnering with state Sen. Brad Hoylman to introduce legislation requiring schools to release publicly data showing its complying with New York’s immunization laws.
Schools would release that data to the state Department of Health, which would then create a searchable database online providing that information, according to a release.