The Epstein Health Law and Policy Program

Legislative Action

States Banning Unauthorized Pelvic Examinations

Regulation in States

For nearly two decades, Professor Wilson has engaged in the initiative to require express consent for intimate exams when the exams are for the student’s, rather than the patient’s benefit (see “Autonomy Suspended”, “Unauthorized Practice”, and “Using Tort Law to Secure Patient Dignity” for articles addressing this issue).

Teaching medical students to identify abnormalities by conducting intimate exams— without prior express consent — can be regulated. Twenty one states have now made the practice illegal, including New York, Maryland, Utah, Washington and Delaware in 2019. In 2020, Louisiana, Maine, and New Hampshire followed suit. Arkansas, Arizona and, most recently, Texas and Nevada have also joined in 2021, along with New Jersey and Connecticut in 2022. Others are:

• California

• Hawaii

• Illinois

• Iowa

• Oregon

• Virginia

Yet, the practice persists because the controversy it periodically sparks dies out eventually. And, like clockwork, attending physicians and medical educators resume teaching their trainees through the bodies of unconscious/anesthetized patients. This, in turn, strips the rights of patients to decide who touches their bodies.

 Since January 1, 2019, Professor Wilson and a team of students have been supporting legislative efforts across the country where twenty-four bills have been introduced in eighteen states. Fifteen have become law in forty months:

• Connecticut ( 2022 H.B. 5278)

• New Jersey (2021 S.B. 1771)

• Florida (2021 H.B. 361 amendment; 2021 S.B. 716, introduced March 2,) [the Governor signed the bill Friday, June 23, 2021]

• Nevada (2021 S.B. 196, introduced March 9) [the Governor signed the bill Friday, June 2, 2021]

• Texas (2021 H.B. 1434, introduced January 27) [This bill passed both chambers unanimously; the Governor signed the bill Friday, June 4, 2021]

• Arizona (2021 S.B. 1017, introduced January 11) [This bill passed both chambers unanimously; the Governor signed the bill Thursday, March 18, 2021]

• Arkansas (2021 H.B. 1137, introduced January 11) [This bill passed both chambers unanimously; the Governor signed the bill Monday, March 15, 2021]

• New Hampshire (2020 H.B. 1639, introduced January 8) [The Governor signed the bill Tuesday, June 16, 2020]

• Washington (2020 S.B. 5282, introduced January 16) [This bill passed both chambers unanimously; the Governor signed the bill Friday, March 27, 2020]

• Maine (2020 L.D. 1948, introduced January 8) [the Governor signed the bill Tuesday, March 10, 2020]

• Louisiana (2020 H.B. 435, introduced February 27) [This bill passed both chambers unanimously; the Governor signed the bill Thursday, June 11, 2020]

• Florida (2019 S.B. 698, introduced October 29) [This bill passed both chambers unanimously; the Governor signed the bill Thursday, June 18, 2020]

• New York (2019 NY S.B. 1092, introduced January 10) [This bill passed both chambers unanimously; the Governor signed the bill Monday, October 7, 2019]

• Delaware (2019 H.B. 239, introduced June 18) [This bill passed both chambers unanimously; the Governor signed the bill Tuesday, September 10, 2019]

• Maryland (2019 MD H.B. 364, introduced January 30) [This bill has passed both chambers unanimously; the Governor signed the bill Monday, May 13, 2019]

• Utah (2019 UT S.B. 188, introduced February 19) [This bill passed both chambers unanimously; the Governor signed the bill Tuesday, March 26, 2019]

• Illinois (2017 H.B. 313, introduced May 29)

• Iowa (2017 H.F. 653, introduced April 18)

• Hawaii (2012 H.B. 2232, introduced January 23)

• Oregon (2011 H.B. 2908, introduced January 11)

• Virginia (2007 H.B. 2969, introduced January 10)

• California (2003 A.B 663, introduced October 1)

As of January 1, 2020, Professor Wilson and her team are supporting stakeholders and lawmakers working on the following bills:

• Indiana (H.B. 1012)

• Massachusetts (S.D. 612)

• Missouri (H.B. 459)

• Texas (H.B. 673)

• Wisconsin (A.B. 128)

These bills have bipartisan sponsorship in many states.