by Molly Metzig ¦ Oshkosh Northwestern ¦ 26 December 2007

Ladies, if you only read one sentence of this column, make it this one: If you are the victim of rape, you have a right to emergency contraception.

Rep. Mark Gundrum, R-New Berlin, doesn't want you to know this. He and his constituents, namely assembly speaker Mike Huebsch, R-La Crosse, have spent the past several months trying to prevent the passage of the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims bill, which would require hospitals to inform rape victims about their right to emergency contraception and to dispense it if requested. Even though it recently passed in both the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate, Gundrum plans to bring it back for reconsideration.

Although I can't say for sure what anyone's reasons are for opposing the bill, I suspect it has something to do with a pro-life stance and failure to see the difference between contraception and abortion.

Emergency contraception can do one of two things. It can either delay the release of an egg or prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus, depending on where a woman is in her monthly cycle. It cannot end a pregnancy once it has started.

Women are the typical victims of rape and the ones who have to endure its long-term effects.

Mark Gundrum is a man. His conception of the terror, shame, and violation felt by women who are raped is vague at best.

This bill needs to pass for the sake of those it will help -- not fail for the sake of one man's misplaced anti-abortion crusade. We didn't elect him to vote on the issues according to their adherence with his personal ideology. Anyone can do that. We elected him to evaluate the issues according to reason -- that's the job of a legislator.

Unless our politicians can find a way to eliminate rape altogether, it is essential that they support a woman's right to a safe, reliable, non-invasive remedy against unintended pregnancy.

Each year more than 25,000 American women become pregnant as the result of rape, and 16,000 of them opt for abortion. Emergency contraception is more than 75 percent effective if taken within a few days. If passed, the Compassionate Care bill will prevent countless women from ever having to choose abortion in the first place.

Emergency contraception (Plan B) is currently available for nonprescription sale to adults and is stocked by most major pharmacies. It is also available at Planned Parenthood of Oshkosh and to University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh students at the student health center.

I hope this information finds its way to all the women who will ever need it, because if Gundrum has his way, no one's going to tell them in the emergency room.