Thanks to legislation fronted by state Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit, state hospitals may be one step closer to providing an important service—the morning-after pill.
Last week, Robson proposed that Wisconsin hospitals would have to inform rape victims that the morning-after pill is an important pregnancy prevention method and provide the pill if the victim requests.
We commend Robson for not giving up on this legislation. Hopes are high that with a Democratic majority, the proposal will pass in the state Legislature.
Currently, only one third of Wisconsin hospitals inform and offer rape victims emergency contraception. This is an unacceptable statistic.
A sexual assault is an abhorrent experience and state government and health services should do everything possible to make sure victims are cared for in the best possible manner.
It is intolerable keeping victims uninformed or not offering them a means to ensure the situation is gradually put behind them. Critics tout the rights of unborn children and say the morning-after pill is another form of unacceptable abortion. We respectfully disagree.
Research shows that within the 72-hour period the morning-after pill is effective, the egg has not yet attached itself in the uterus. Compassionate Care for Rape Victims reports more than 300,000 women in the United States are sexually assaulted every year. Of these assaults, more than 25,000 women become pregnant and more than half of these pregnancies end in abortion.
The CCRV estimates that more than 75 percent of these pregnancies could be prevented if rape victims took emergency contraception.
The first important step to encourage women to come to the hospital when they have been sexually assaulted is for the government to offer Plan-B contraception. The glaring fact still remains that most women who are raped do not report the incident.
A 2002 National Women's Study found that for every reported rape in the United States, five go unreported.
It is the government's responsibility to enforce stricter guidelines for hospitals caring for rape victims.
However, if our state Senate is going the extra mile to ensure accommodation for those who have been through something horrible, it is up to victims of sexual assault to take advantage of this service that is provided to them.
