Gov expected to sign contraception bill
by Judith Davidoff ¦ The Capital Times ¦ 12 December 2007 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."
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