Florida Senate - 2021                                     SB 716
       
       
        
       By Senator Book
       
       
       
       
       
       32-00225A-21                                           2021716__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to consent for pelvic examinations;
    3         amending s. 456.51, F.S.; revising the definition of
    4         the term “pelvic examination”; revising the
    5         circumstances under which a pelvic examination may be
    6         performed without written consent; authorizing written
    7         consent for a pelvic examination to be obtained as a
    8         part of a general consent form and to allow multiple
    9         health care practitioners or students to perform the
   10         examination; providing an effective date.
   11          
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Section 456.51, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   15  read:
   16         456.51 Consent for pelvic examinations.—
   17         (1) As used in this section, the term “pelvic examination”
   18  means the series of tasks that comprise an examination of the
   19  organs of the female internal reproductive system vagina,
   20  cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, rectum, or external
   21  pelvic tissue or organs using any combination of modalities,
   22  which may include, but need not be limited to, the health care
   23  provider’s gloved hand or instrumentation.
   24         (2) A health care practitioner, a medical student, or any
   25  other student receiving training as a health care practitioner
   26  may not perform a pelvic examination on an anesthetized or
   27  unconscious a patient without the written consent of the patient
   28  or the patient’s legal representative executed specific to, and
   29  expressly identifying, the pelvic examination, unless:
   30         (a) A court orders performance of the pelvic examination
   31  for the collection of evidence; or
   32         (b) The pelvic examination is immediately necessary for the
   33  provision of emergency services and care as defined in s.
   34  395.002 to avert a serious risk of imminent substantial and
   35  irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of
   36  the patient; or
   37         (c) The pelvic examination is indicated in the standard of
   38  care for a procedure to which the patient or the patient’s legal
   39  representative has consented.
   40         (3) Written consent for a pelvic examination may be
   41  obtained as part of a general consent form if it is included as
   42  its own provision. One written consent form may be used to
   43  authorize multiple health care practitioners or students to
   44  perform a pelvic examination.
   45         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.