More than 100 people gathered at the Wisconsin Senate Committee on Health Wednesday to support the Compassionate Care of Rape Victims Bill. If passed, the bill will ensure that in every Wisconsin emergency room rape victims can have emergency contraception provided upon request.
""There's been a lot of support for what we feel is a very common sense piece of legislation,"" said Joshua Wescott, communications director for state Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit.
EC is a concentrated dose of regular birth control pills taken within 120 hours of unprotected intercourse to prevent pregnancy. It is up to 89 percent effective when taken within 72 hours.
Only 33 percent of state hospitals unconditionally provide EC to rape victims despite American Medical Association guidelines that encourage increased EC access for victims, according to a statement released by the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Coalition.
Currently, there is no legislation requiring hospitals to provide or inform victims about the choice of emergency contraception.
""You have people go through this horrific ordeal, something that's going to stick with them for life, and this, if anything else, lets them think about one thing less after the rape,"" Wescott said.
Matt Sande, director of legislation for Pro-Life Wisconsin, said that anti-abortion groups are already providing financial and spiritual support to rape victims and that EC may not be the best option.
""Forcing doctors to immediately prescribe medication to patients based solely on their request, [is what] I consider bad medicine. It may contradict their medical judgment,"" he said.
Pro-life Wisconsin said they work with unwed mothers or rape victims and offer adoption as an option: ""We feel that that is truly a compassionate response,"" Sande said.
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference said they do not support the legislation because Catholic health facilities already offer contraception to rape victims.
""Some perceive that our moral and ethical principles ... preclude Catholic health facilities from making contraception available to rape victims. This is not the case,"" Kim Wadas, associate director for the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, said in a testimony statement.
Chris Taylor, public policy director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin said that passing this bill will provide basic health care and justice to rape victims.
""This legislation is needed because hospital emergency rooms are not providing that comprehensive care,"" Taylor said. ""We desperately need the legislature to step in and make sure that no rape victim is denied basic access to health care, which includes pregnancy prevention following an assault.""
Kelda Roys, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, said the bill does not advocate for abortion-rights values. ""It really isn't a pro-choice bill. This is about sexual assault victims' rights to adequate and compassionate medical care.""
