NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Applauds Commonsense Bill to Improve Health Care for Rape Survivors
Legislation would ensure that sexual-assault survivors are offered emergency contraception Columbus, OH – Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, applauded the reintroduction of the Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies (CARE) Act (HB 560) – a bill that would ensure that sexual-assault survivors are offered emergency contraception in hospital emergency rooms. State Representative Dan Stewart (D-Columbus) reintroduced the bill today. “This commonsense legislation affirms that members of the Ohio House hear voters’ call for policies that empower women and protect their privacy, instead of the divisive attacks that defined previous Congresses,” Copeland said. “State Representative Dan Stewart and his colleagues who have co-sponsored this legislation have once again demonstrated their steadfast leadership by authoring this thoughtful legislation.” The CARE Act would ensure that survivors of sexual assault are offered emergency contraception (EC) in the emergency room. Each year, approximately 25,000 women in the United States become pregnant as a result of rape. Many of these pregnancies could be prevented if sexual assault victims had timely access to EC. Polls show that nearly 80 percent of American women want hospitals – religious-affiliated or not – to offer EC to rape survivors. Emergency contraception is a concentrated dose of ordinary birth-control pills that can dramatically reduce a woman’s chance of becoming pregnant if taken soon after sex. EC does not cause abortion; rather it is a safe and effective way to prevent pregnancy and was recently approved for over-the-counter sales for adults. NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Foundation conducted two surveys to examine the availability of EC in hospital emergency rooms across the state. The first survey in 2004 showed that nearly 60% of all Ohio hospitals did not guarantee access to EC for sexual assault survivors, almost 25% said they never give it out. In 2007 the picture had improved slightly with nearly 20% of hospitals who responded to the survey not guaranteeing access for sexual assault survivors (only half of Ohio hospitals participated in the second survey). Unfortunately these studies also showed that there is a lack of knowledge about this medication among emergency room staff, with both reports finding instances of ER staff confusing EC with the abortion inducing medication Mifepristone (or RU-486). Our research confirms that legislation is necessary to protect access to critical reproductive health care for sexual assault survivors in our state. You can view these studies at www.prochoiceohio.org.
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