Governor
expected to sign contraception bill
New contraception bill for rape
victims, if passed, will the first time in a decade the state has significantly
expanded access to birth control.
If, as expected, Gov. Jim Doyle signs
the bill preliminarily passed by the state Assembly to provide emergency contraception
to rape victims, it will be the first time in a decade the state has significantly
expanded access to birth control.
"This was the first breakthrough," Lisa
Boyce, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said
in an interview about Tuesday night's vote.
Boyce and other women's health
advocates say the trend of the last decade has been to restrict access to birth
control. They have fought, among other things, efforts to prohibit the University
of Wisconsin System from offering emergency contraception and to restrict the
state from funding family planning services for low-income women. Boyce said the
last significant victory for women's health came in 1997, when the Legislature
approved a federal planning waiver that expanded birth control access for women
on Medicaid.
"This is a historic day," echoed Sara Finger, spokeswoman for
the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Coalition. Finger called the bill long
overdue and said it would let rape victims "get the compassionate and comprehensive
care that they need and deserve."
Kelda Helen Roys, the executive director
of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, said she hopes Tuesday's vote "signals a new willingness
on the part of the Assembly to look for common ground on issues of health care
access for women and families."
Advocates for sexual assault victims have
been trying since 2001 to get the bill passed, but Republicans blocked attempts
to advance the legislation. The Democrat-controlled state Senate easily passed
the measure in May, but it faced an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled
Assembly. It got a tremendous boost when Rep. Terry Musser, R-Black River Falls,
signed on as a co-author.
On Tuesday, the Assembly rejected three attempts
to amend the bill. Two would have allowed health care professionals or hospitals
to opt out of providing emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault and
one would have required parental notification for minors.
The bill passed
56 to 41 just before midnight with a minor change, but Republicans objected to
a final reading of the bill Tuesday night, so the body will need to take a final
vote in January. Because of the change, the Senate must also approve the bill
again before it can be sent to Doyle for signing.
Emergency contraception,
most often packaged as "Plan B," is essentially a high dose of birth control pills
that, if taken within 72 hours of intercourse, is highly effective at preventing
pregnancy. Recent surveys have shown that many hospitals around Wisconsin don't
stock emergency contraception or offer it routinely to victims of sexual assault.
Pro-Life
Wisconsin, which lobbied heavily against the bill, said the bill violates a state
law that allows health care professionals to opt out of sterilization or abortion
procedures. Pro-Life Wisconsin, which opposes all forms of birth control, says
hormonal contraceptives cause "chemical abortions."
Pro-Life Wisconsin lobbyist
Matt Sande said the bill also violates the Wisconsin Constitution. He quoted Article
1, Section 18, which says: "any control of, or interference with, the rights of
conscience" shall not be permitted. He also said the legislation violates the
First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to freely
exercise one's religion.
If Doyle signs the bill, Sande predicted a lawsuit
to challenge it, but Roys, who is an attorney, said "there is no credible medical
or scientific organization that thinks birth control is abortion."
She added
that "health care professionals in Wisconsin have a legal and ethical obligation
to "put the patient and that patient's needs first. That's the essence of professionalism."
Please visit at Plan B Birth Control
to know more about emergency or contraceptive pills.
©
2007 The Capital Times.
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