Two pieces of legislation intended to help rape victims have moved forward in the state Legislature recently, though one bill's fate in the state Assembly is still uncertain.
Specially trained medical personnel administer forensic exams after someone has been raped, and due to a provision included in the final version of the state budget, the exams will now be fully funded by the state.
The exams are meant to collect DNA and other evidence, with victims previously having to use their medical insurance to pay. State Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, who co-authored the bill with Rep. Donna Seidel, said the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault had alerted them to the issue.
It was a problem Democrats and Republicans agreed had to be fixed,"" Suder said. ""It really amounted to fixing a serious problem for sexual assault victims.""
The other piece of legislation may enjoy less broad support in the Assembly.
Assembly bill 377, commonly referred to as the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill, passed the Democrat-controlled state Senate in a vote of 27 to six in May. The bill was sponsored in the Republican-controlled state Assembly by state Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and state Rep. Terry Musser, R-Black River Falls.
The bill would mandate that rape victims receive information about emergency contraception in all Wisconsin emergency rooms and have access to EC upon request.
It was recently scheduled for a full Assembly vote either the week of Nov. 6 or Dec. 11.
AB 377 was referred to the Assembly Judiciary and Ethics Committee after the Senate vote, where an amendment was added in Sept. that would allow hospitals to refuse to comply with the law if it violated their religious or moral beliefs.
Pocan said in a statement that the amendment ""nullifies"" the bill, though amendment supporters have stated that it protects hospitals' religious freedoms.
State Rep. Frederick Kessler, D-Milwaukee, who co-sponsored AB377, said he was still hopeful the bill would pass the Assembly.
