Emergency contraception is still not available at all Wisconsin hospitals, according to a new survey. Two years after Compassionate Care for Rape Victims became law, a survey by the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health finds twenty-two percent of state hospitals are not complying. “We weren’t totally surprised that many hospitals were lacking resources they needed, to truly comply with the law,” says the Alliance’s Sara Finger. “It just goes to show that there’s more work to be done, to educate and empower hospitals.”
Sara Finger with the Alliance says they’re distributing a comprehensive compliance tool kit to every emergency room and sexual assault nurse examiner in the state to help overcome a lack of resources. Other hospitals continue to object to the law, citing “provider beliefs.” Finger says that’s a matter for education. “The AMA, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Public Health Association, the AMA, all agree that emergency contraception is the standard of care to provide a rape victim in preventing a pregnancy from her attacker.”
The Compassionate Care Act requires hospitals to tell rape victims about emergency contraceptives and make the morning after pill available to them. The Alliance had an eighty-four percent response rate to the survey.
Bob Hague reports (1:10 MP3) AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:10 MP3)
