Sen. McDonald Rivet’s Senate Bill 72 outlines penalties for new law regarding the preservation of medical records of certain procedures
LANSING, Mich. (May 5, 2023) — Yesterday, the Michigan Senate unanimously passed Senate Bills 66-73, an extensive, bipartisan package of legislation to bolster state laws regarding sexual assault and offer greater support for survivors. Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) sponsored Senate Bill 72, which in conjunction with Senate Bill 71 (sponsored by Sen. Roger Hauck), requires medical professionals to preserve a patient’s records for medical services involving vaginal or anal penetration for at least 15 years and creates new penalties and sentencing guidelines for a violation.
“Kids and parents need to be able to trust their medical professionals, but we have seen those who have abused those positions of trust to take advantage of and sexually assault their patients,” said Sen. McDonald Rivet. “These new bills criminalize the sexual abuse of patients by medical professionals and require the maintenance of records for certain medical procedures. We need to protect patients and support survivors, and this bipartisan package does just that.”
A majority of the other bills in the package deal specifically with sexual assault under the guise of medical care, criminalizing it and outlining corresponding penalties. The bill numbers, lead sponsors and descriptions are as follows:
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Senate Bill 67 (Sen. Dan Lauwers) would prohibit sexual contact or sexual penetration under the pretext of medical care and create felony penalties for a violation.
- Senate Bill 68 (Sen. Erika Geiss) would amend the sentencing guidelines to include the new felonies proposed by SB 67.
- Senate Bill 69 (Sen. Lana Theis) would prohibit medical professionals from performing sensitive procedures and examinations on minor patients except under certain circumstances and create a felony penalty for a violation.
- Senate Bill 70 (Sen. Ruth Johnson) would amend the sentencing guidelines to include the felony proposed by SB 69.
Other legislation in the package would help make information on sexual assault more accessible for young people and also help protect survivors’ anonymity. Senate Bill 66, sponsored by Sen. Stephanie Chang, would require the Department of Education to make materials regarding sexual assault and sexual harassment available to school districts and require districts to provide those materials to students in grades 6-12. Senate Bill 73, sponsored by Sen. Sue Shink, would provide a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemption for any information that would reveal the identity of a party who proceeds anonymously in a civil action in which that party alleges that they were the victim of sexual misconduct.
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