For Immediate Release:

September 18, 2007

Media Contact: Andrea Gage
414-213-3717 (cell)

Assembly Judiciary Committee Abandons Rape Victims
Anti-Birth Control Republicans Gut Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill

Madison, WI- Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin (PPAWI) condemns the Republican members of the Assembly Judiciary and Ethics Committee for gutting the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill (Assembly Bill 377, Senate Bill 129) today. On a partisan 6 to 4 vote, anti-birth control Republicans passed an amendment which exempts hospitals and all hospital employees from providing comprehensive health care to rape victims and complying with basic standard of care principles as set forth by the American Medical Association. The amendment specifically allows hospitals and all hospital personnel to refuse to provide rape victims with information about, and access to, emergency contraception (EC). The amendment also takes away any legal recourse a rape victim has who has been denied information and access to EC.

“It is shocking that the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee voted that rape victims should be subjected to substandard medical care, unlike any other category of patients,” said PPAWI Public Policy Director Chris Taylor. “The committee’s actions—gutting this important legislation and abandoning rape victims—are simply unconscionable.”

The original, unamended Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill would ensure that rape victims learn about EC in every Wisconsin hospital emergency room and receive the medication upon request to prevent pregnancy following an assault. EC is a form of birth control that prevents pregnancy, and it is at least 89 percent effective when taken within 72 hours, making timely access critically important for victims of rape. A 2006 survey of 109 Wisconsin hospital emergency departments showed that only one-third of Wisconsin hospitals provide EC on site without exception to rape victims.

The state Senate passed the bill on a bipartisan vote of 27 to 6 in May, and 82 percent of Wisconsin voters back this bill as indicated in a recent poll. The bill has also had a groundswell of support throughout the legislative process from the medical community, advocates and rape survivors. In response to an action alert issued by Planned Parenthood, activists sent 454 letters to each member of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, urging them to pass the bill as written. And since Friday, roughly 100 women’s health care supporters have called their legislators to let them know that the people of Wisconsin believe that rape victims deserve humane, compassionate care as guaranteed by the bill in its original form. No hospital testified against the bill. The only opposition came from two anti-birth control groups and a handful of physicians who oppose contraceptives.

“In amending this bill, legislators are telling rape victims and constituents that their healthy futures and their opinions simply don’t matter. The people of Wisconsin should be outraged,” said Taylor. “We encourage concerned constituents to call their legislators and let them know that rape victims deserve better than this terrible amendment—they deserve to see the state Assembly hold an up or down vote on the bill in its original form.”

For more information on the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill, visit www.ppawi.org.

###

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin is the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI). The mission of PPWI is to empower all individuals to manage their sexual and reproductive health through direct services, education, and advocacy.  www.ppawi.org