A Pitiless Plan A: Denying Plan B Emergency Contraception to Victims of Rape
by Robert Weitzel
from SmirkingChimp
“I don't think you are supposed to put others through hell so you can avoid it yourself.”
- A Good Friend -
In the cold, early morning hours of January 1, 1974, a good friend, then a 19-year-old college student, was driving home alone from a New Year’s Eve party. Her Volkswagen was forced off the road. She was dragged kicking and screaming into the van of a man who had decided to kidnap and rape her. My friend spent the hours immediately after her brutal violation convincing the man not to kill her.
“A van appeared out of nowhere attempting to run me off the road. I was panic-stricken. I pulled into a parking lot where two men were preparing morning papers for delivery and ran from my car trying to reach them. My attacker caught me from behind and dragged me into his van. I was so close to the paper men I could almost touch them. I screamed for them to help me. The man who would rape me shouted to them that I was his girlfriend and that we were having a fight. Apparently that was okay with the paper men.”
“He drove to an isolated area in a nearby town, then ordered me to take off my clothes and get in the back of the van. I fought him until he punched me. I remembered hearing once that the best way to survive a violent sexual assault was to give in, so I did. The guilt of doing so haunted me for years.”
The Wisconsin State Senate overwhelmingly passed the “Compassionate Care for Rape Victims,” a bill that requires hospitals providing emergency services to inform a rape victim of her right to receive Plan B emergency contraception (high-dosage birth control pills administered within 72 hours of intercourse) and to immediately provide it upon her request.
The bill was referred to the Assembly Judiciary and Ethics Committee, where it was amended by the committee chair, Rep. Mark Gundrum, a dogmatic Roman Catholic who was awarded the 1999 Legislator of the Year Award by Pro-Life Wisconsin, an anti-contraceptives/anti-choice organization opposed to the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims bill.
The amendment was a “conscience clause” allowing healthcare providers to opt out of informing a rape victim about the Plan B emergency contraception option because of religious or moral beliefs. The amendment was passed by a 6-4 party line vote in the Republican controlled committee.
(Continued here.)
from SmirkingChimp
“I don't think you are supposed to put others through hell so you can avoid it yourself.”
- A Good Friend -
In the cold, early morning hours of January 1, 1974, a good friend, then a 19-year-old college student, was driving home alone from a New Year’s Eve party. Her Volkswagen was forced off the road. She was dragged kicking and screaming into the van of a man who had decided to kidnap and rape her. My friend spent the hours immediately after her brutal violation convincing the man not to kill her.
“A van appeared out of nowhere attempting to run me off the road. I was panic-stricken. I pulled into a parking lot where two men were preparing morning papers for delivery and ran from my car trying to reach them. My attacker caught me from behind and dragged me into his van. I was so close to the paper men I could almost touch them. I screamed for them to help me. The man who would rape me shouted to them that I was his girlfriend and that we were having a fight. Apparently that was okay with the paper men.”
“He drove to an isolated area in a nearby town, then ordered me to take off my clothes and get in the back of the van. I fought him until he punched me. I remembered hearing once that the best way to survive a violent sexual assault was to give in, so I did. The guilt of doing so haunted me for years.”
The Wisconsin State Senate overwhelmingly passed the “Compassionate Care for Rape Victims,” a bill that requires hospitals providing emergency services to inform a rape victim of her right to receive Plan B emergency contraception (high-dosage birth control pills administered within 72 hours of intercourse) and to immediately provide it upon her request.
The bill was referred to the Assembly Judiciary and Ethics Committee, where it was amended by the committee chair, Rep. Mark Gundrum, a dogmatic Roman Catholic who was awarded the 1999 Legislator of the Year Award by Pro-Life Wisconsin, an anti-contraceptives/anti-choice organization opposed to the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims bill.
The amendment was a “conscience clause” allowing healthcare providers to opt out of informing a rape victim about the Plan B emergency contraception option because of religious or moral beliefs. The amendment was passed by a 6-4 party line vote in the Republican controlled committee.
(Continued here.)
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