A recently overturned rape conviction in Maryland has caused many in Pennsylvania to question why, in two states, a legal precedent exists that a woman cannot withdraw consent after initially agreeing to sexual intercourse.

Earlier this month, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals overturned the December 2004 rape conviction of Maouloud Baby, who was convicted of raping a girl who said she asked him to cease intercourse with her after she began to feel pain, according to a Washington Post report.

The decision in Maryland, which angered many women's rights groups around the country, also drew opposition from Penn State students.

"If a woman has the right to offer consent, then she should have the right to withdraw consent," said Claire Lyskava (junior-English), a student in Women's Studies 301 (Introduction to Feminist Thought).

It's a setback in terms of women's rights, added Jessica Nambudiri (sophomore-journalism), another student taking the course.

The Maryland rape conviction was overturned Oct. 30, said Maryland Assistant State's Attorney Alex Foster, who prosecuted the case.

Currently, a petition to hear the case is waiting to be accepted or rejected by the highest court in Maryland, the Court of Appeals, Foster said.

If they do decide to rule on the precedent, they can accept it or overturn it, he added.

Maryland and North Carolina are the only two states who uphold the view that a woman cannot be raped after she initially consents to sex and intercourse has begun, Foster said.

"Men and women are going to have sex and these issues of yes and no are always going to come up, and we need to have some clarification," Foster said.

Pennsylvania follows the sexual assault statue of "No Means No," which means that as soon as a person says no, it transforms from a consensual act into an act of violence, said Diane Moyer, legal director for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.

Regardless of case specifics, sometimes proving consent is very difficult in rape cases because it becomes a "he-said-she-said" argument, Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira said.

"You can withdraw consent at any time," Madeira said. He added that the difficulty lies in "whether you can prove consent and when consent was withdrawn."

Corey Cook, director of Education and Outreach at the Centre County Women's Resource Center, which advocates for victims of sexual assault, said the center tells women they can withdraw consent at any time and that "no means no."

"It's really important that people have a clear understanding of what consent means. Consent is a 'yes, this is what I want to be doing,' " Cook said.

Anything that says women cannot revoke consent is a cause for concern, Cook added.

Centre County Women's Resource Center treated 333 sexual assault clients from July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006 and had 657 sexual assault-related calls to their hotline, according to their official records.

According to the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Report's most recent data, there were 3,316 forcible rapes reported to Pennsylvania police departments in 2004.