Planned Parenthood Advocates
of Wisconsin News Wire
Tuesday, April 22,
2008 Edition
In this Issue:
Special
Compassionate Care Edition:
Wisconsin Recognizes Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Awareness
Campaign Launched on Historic Passage of Compassionate Care
The
Compassionate Care Tool Kit
How
Wisconsin is Recognizing Sexual Assault Awareness Month
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), an annual
opportunity for health care providers, victims' rights organizations and
members of the media to focus awareness on sexual violence and its prevention.
It's also an opportunity to highlight the efforts of individuals and agencies
that provide rape crisis intervention and prevention services while offering
support to sexual assault survivors, victims and their families.
In Wisconsin, this SAAM is marked with the
historic passage of the Compassionate Care for Rape
Victims Act. The act, which was enacted on March 13 and published on
March 27, is now being enforced in hospital emergency rooms throughout the
state. That means that Wisconsin hospital emergency rooms will
give rape victims information about emergency contraception and, if requested,
dispense the medication on site to prevent pregnancy following assault.
Emergency contraception (EC) is a dosage of birth control pills that, if taken
within 12 hours is 99.5% effective in preventing pregnancy. If taken within 120
hours, EC is at least 75% effective in preventing pregnancy.
A 2006
study found that 66 percent of Wisconsin emergency rooms failed to provide
access to EC to rape victims. With Compassionate Care for Rape Victims becoming
law, rape victims will now be guaranteed the comprehensive and compassionate
care they need and deserve in every Wisconsin emergency room.
PPAWI
Engages in Awareness Campaign to Highlight Supporters and Opponents of
Compassionate Care
The bill's
signing marks the first pro-women's health legislation to be passed and made into
law in Wisconsin in over a decade, and its victory
was actually more
than six years in the making. (View
video of the historic signing.)
"With the passage of this legislation,
Wisconsin finally took the step to improving our state's public health and
ensuring rape victims are given the comprehensive and compassionate care they
need and deserve," said Sara Finger, coordinator for the Compassionate
Care for Rape Victims (CCRV) Coalition.
"It's
incredibly empowering for the rape survivors and their fellow health care
advocates to see this happen after such a long effort to pass this important
legislation. It shows that together, we really can make a difference,"
said PPAWI Executive Director Lisa Boyce.
Without
the leadership and tenacity of many elected leaders including, newly elected
Representatives Ann Hraychuck (D-Balsam Lake), Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire) and
James Soletski (D-Green Bay), CCRV would not be law today.
And yet, despite the overwhelming public support and demonstrated need for
CCRV, several elected representatives remarkably worked to oppose the passage
of CCRV, including Representatives Ott (R-Mequon), Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem),
and Karl Van Roy (R-Green Bay).
In an
effort to inform PPAWI's vast support base about those who worked to facilitate
the passage of CCRV and those who served as obstructionists to a bill that 84
percent of the voting public supports, PPAWI has engaged in a paid mail
campaign to almost 20,000 reproductive health supporters. The mailers thank Representatives Hraychuck,
Smith and Soletski for their leadership in working to pass a compassionate and
commonsense bill.
Supporters
residing in Representatives Ott, Huebsch and Van Roy's district will learn
about their representatives' outrageous opposition to the passage of CCRV.
"People
may assume that because CCRV makes such sense that all of our elected leaders
embraced its passage." The
unfortunate truth of the matter is that CCRV would not have passed if it were
not for our six years of outreach to constituents in districts that were
represented by opponents of CCRV. Only through continued awareness and
engagement of our supporters were we able to secure enough votes to pass CCRV
this session," said Boyce. "Through that continued awareness effort,
we hope the next time a woman friendly policy comes across Representative Ott,
Huebsch and Van Roy's desk, they will have heard the voices of their supporters
following their troubling vote on CCRV and make the right vote next time."
The Compassionate Care Tool Kit
The bill may be passed, but the work is just beginning for
the CCRV Coalition. The group has developed a special tool kit for health care
professionals, which will be distributed to emergency room staff statewide this
month, in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month and National Public
Health Week.
"The Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Coalition has worked tirelessly
over the past six years to pass this important legislation. Now that the bill has passed and has been
signed by the Governor, we are dedicated to assisting hospital emergency rooms
to comply with the new law," said CCRV Coalition Coordinator Sara Finger.
Here's an excerpt from the
Compassionate Care Tool Kit introduction sent to health care professionals:
While the CCRV Coalition recognizes the broad scope of behaviors
included in sexual violence would require different health care protocol, we
developed this toolkit to help hospitals comply with 2008 Wisconsin Act 102,
which ensures foremost that emergency birth control is accessible to female
victims of incest or forcible, marital and/or acquaintance rape in Wisconsin's
emergency rooms.
More specifically, Wisconsin's Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Law requires the following:
·
Accurate oral information about
use and effectiveness of emergency contraception (EC) all female rape victims
of reproductive potential who present in the ER
·
Accurate written information about
EC to all female victims of reproductive potential
·
On-site provision of first dose of
EC to female victims who choose to take it
·
On-site dispense of all subsequent
doses of EC, if applicable
·
Oral information to all victims of
sexual assault regarding options for reporting the crime
·
Oral information to all victims of
sexual assault regarding evidence collection options
This toolkit is
divided into three main sections. The
first deals with emergency contraception and sexual assault, the next deals
with reporting the crime to law enforcement and the last section includes
information about the important features of a sexual assault examination. In addition to the information we have
compiled for you, we have also included sample protocol from model hospitals
you may want to consult as you revise your hospital's policy.
Learn more about Compassionate
Care for Rape Victims Coalition and the
efforts to help hospitals comply with this important legislation.
Learn more about Sexual Assault Awareness Month
and related events from the Wisconsin
Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
Stay up to date on legislative issues
affecting women's health at www.ppawi.org.