Assembly Committee Votes to Roll Back Rape Victims' Right to Medical Care
Committee Republicans gut popular bipartisan Compassionate Care bill Madison, WI – Today the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and Ethics, chaired by antibirth control extremist Mark Gundrum (R-New Berlin), voted along party lines to gut the popular Compassionate Care for Rape Victims bill (SB 129/AB 377). “The Committee’s actions are reprehensible – apparently Gundrum and his cohorts believe that rape victims are the only class of patient in Wisconsin that deserve substandard care and no protection from intentional malpractice,” said Kelda Helen Roys, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. “They have revealed just how far they will go to deny women access to birth control – even rape victims.” The Compassionate Care bill seeks to ensure that every emergency room in Wisconsin provides rape victims with the American Medical Association’s minimum standard of care, including information about and access to emergency birth control. Currently, two-thirds of Wisconsin hospitals fall short of this minimum standard. The bill does not mandate that individual providers offer birth control counseling and access, but rather that the institution must ensure the victim receives the required care. Gundrum’s amendment actually would take away existing rights from rape victims – in fact, passing the bill with his amendment would be worse than not passing the bill at all. It would allow hospitals to opt-out of providing the required care – in essence, condemning thousands of women to a pregnancy from rape. Yet it goes much further by eliminating all civil and malpractice liability for doctors or hospitals who violate informed consent and withhold care from rape victims. The bill, which overwhelmingly passed the State Senate (27-6) and is supported by over 80% of Wisconsin voters, has bipartisan support in the Assembly but not on the Committee. Not one hospital opposes the legislation as written – in fact, the bill’s only opponents are extreme groups who seek to outlaw all forms of birth control. All six Republicans on the Committee voted to destroy the bill through amendment: Rep. Mark Gundrum (New Berlin) Rep. Samantha Kerkman (Burlington) Rep. Don Pridemore (Hartford) Rep. Joel Kleefisch (Oconomowoc) Rep. Don Friske (Merrill) Rep. Bill Kramer (Waukesha) All four Democrats on the Committee voted to support the bill without amendment: Rep. Gordon Hintz (Oshkosh) Rep. Tony Staskunas (West Allis) Rep. Fred Kessler (Milwaukee) Rep. Robert Turner (Racine) ###
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