Petition to Stop Unconsented, Unwarranted and Unwanted Hysterectomy

Can you imagine a country where the sex organs are removed from 622,000 mothers, sisters, daughters, lovers, and friends each year? That country is the United States of America.

Sign the Petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/saynotilyouknow/

Join thousands of women and men and sign the Petition to make sure that every woman and girl who is told she needs surgery to remove female sex organs is provided with the HERS Foundation’s educational DVD “Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs.” The purpose of the DVD is to inform women that the adverse effects of removing reproductive sex organs is anything but routine, and yet no other part of the human anatomy is removed as frequently as
the uterus and ovaries. Hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus, a hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ with lifelong functions that are essential to a woman’s health and wellbeing. Oophorectomy is the surgical removal of the ovaries, the female gonads, which is performed on an average of 75% of women at the time of hysterectomy. The medically correct term for removal of the gonads is castration. There are 22 million living women in this country whose reproductive sex organs have been removed. A statistically insignifi cant number of men have their sex organs removed, although the rate of cancer in the male and female organs is nearly identical. In a HERS survey of women’s experiences with hysterectomy, 99.7% report that doctors neglected to inform women or lied to them about the well-documented adverse effects of the surgery. There simply is no informed consent until basic information about female anatomy is provided to women. Therefore,
almost all surgeries to remove the uterus and ovaries are unconsented.

Typically women are asked to sign a consent form that lists the procedure to be performed and the most common risks of any major surgery. The proposed surgery is written-in on the consent form as “exploratory surgery and possible
TAH BSO” (total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy), which means that the uterus and ovaries may be removed during the surgery. Many women are told that they are only consenting to exploratory surgery, but the word “possible” gives doctors permission to remove the reproductive sex organs and creates a legal loophole that protects doctors and hospitals from legal claims. It is not customary to remove organs during other types of exploratory surgery, and yet it
is common during exploratory surgery of the female organs. So women and girls are specifi cally at risk. Furthermore, women are often told to sign the consent form after they have been sedated just minutes before
the surgery.

Clearly, the consent form process itself does not work and is deeply fl awed. No woman should be asked to consider consenting to exploratory surgery or the removal of her uterus or ovaries until she is provided with information about female anatomy and the functions of her reproductive sex organs.

No information? No consent!

Sign the Petition to enact laws compelling every doctor to provide HERS’ new educational DVD “Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs” to every woman and girl who is told she needs pelvic surgery, including exploratory surgery,
hysterectomy, or oophorectomy.

Who would deny a woman the right to know?

Watch the DVD at www.hersfoundation.org, click on "Female Anatomy"

HERS Foundation
Phone 610-667-7757

Hysterectomy and the Loss of Uterine Orgasm

Most women are taught little about the functions of the female organs beyond iinformation about menstruation and pregnancy. The uterus and ovaries are the female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organs. The female organs are internal and their functions are not visible. Most women and men know more about the functions of male reproductive sex organs than female female reproductive sex organs because the organs are external and visible.

One of the common myths perpetuated by doctors that has become folklore is that the female organs are only needed by women who want to have children and that after they complete their family they no longer need these organs. Nothing could be further from the truth. The uterus is a hormone responsive reproductive sex organ that supports the bladder and the bowel. It functions all of a woman's life. Many women are sexually active and experience uterine orgasm into their 80's.

The ovaries are the female gonads. They produce hormones all of a woman's life. The pre-menopausal ovary produce more estrogens than androgens, and the post-menpausal ovary produces more androgens and less estrogens. Removal of the ovaries is castration.

The uterus provides support to the bladder and the bowel. When a hysterectomy is performed the support to the bladder is compromised, and the bowel drifts down to take up the space where the uterus had been. The vagina is shortened, made into a closed pocket. Because the uterus separates the bladder from the bowel, when the uterus is removed the bowel drifts down and takes up the space where the uterus had been. When there is stool in the bowel it presses against the bladder and down into the top of the vagina. This would not have been possible with the uterus intact.

In a HERS Foundation survey 99.7% of women reported that the doctor who performed the surgery did not inform them of the consequences or they were lied to when they asked if they would experience any changes. Most often doctors tell women "You'll be better than ever" and "Sex will be the same or better".

Because doctors are not informing women of the adverse effects of hysterectomy the HERS Foundation has launched a campaign to compel every doctor to provide HERS short new educational video "Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs" to every woman before she is asked to sign a Hysterectomy Consent Form.

SIGN THE PETITON at www.ipetitions.com/petition/saynotilyouknow or by visit www.hersfoundation.org and click on "Petition". It's every woman's right to know.