A representative in the Maine House has introduced legislation that would prohibit nonconsensual pelvic examinations.
Rep. Vicki Doudera (D-Camden) presented the bill to the state legislature's Health and Human Services Committee Jan. 28.
The bill would require physicians to receive informed consent before conducting or supervising a pelvic examination on a patient, who is unconscious or under anesthesia. In Maine, it is currently legal to perform pelvic examinations on anesthetized patients without consent. The exams have been used as a teaching tool for medical students.
The new bill also includes a provision allowing clinicians to perform the exams without consent if it is an emergency and the patient is unconscious.
Maryland, New York and Utah passed similar legislation last year.