A bill requiring Wisconsin hospitals to give rape victims information on emergency contraception was introduced Tuesday in a news conference at the Capitol.
The Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill, introduced by state Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit, would ensure that health-care providers not only make rape victims aware of the option of emergency contraception, but also require them to provide it upon the victim's request.
Supporters say the bill is necessary following surprising statistics about how Wisconsin hospitals are handling rape victims.
According to Sarah Finger, director of Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health, ""Only one-third of Wisconsin hospitals are unconditionally providing emergency contraception to rape victims.""
""We know there's a problem because two-thirds of the hospitals in the state do not guarantee rape victims access to a way to prevent an unintended pregnancy,"" Finger said.
Emergency contraception, or EC, is a highly concentrated birth control pill that can prevent a pregnancy when taken within about two days of a sexual encounter. Plan B, the most commonly used form of EC, is available over the counter, but currently many victims are not being informed of this option.
""It's just unimaginable that [rape victims] would go to a hospital emergency room having survived perhaps the most traumatic experience of their lives and not be told about EC,"" said Chris Taylor, public policy director of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.
Taylor also pointed to the fact that victims, immediately after being raped, are not necessarily in a position where they can think clearly about their options.
""You don't know what questions to ask when you've just been attacked,"" she said. ""That's the job of the health-care provider.""
Josh Wescott, communications director for Robson, said he hopes this bill will be treated not as a political issue but as a necessary part of the health-care industry.
""We're very hopeful again that politics is kept out of it. I mean it certainly is a priority,"" Wescott said. ""We hope people realize this is about common sense and public health and not politics.""
The Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill will be circulated through legislators to find co-sponsorship before it can be brought before a committee for a vote.
""Senator Robson feels this is good public health, it's good medicine, it's good public policy—quite frankly, it just makes sense,"" Wescott said.
