Sometime this week—perhaps as early as tomorrow, although I don’t know for sure—the PA House of Representatives will take up once again HB 288, Daylin Leach’s bill to require hospitals to inform all rape victims about the availability of Plan B also know as Emergency Contraception (EC) or the morning after pill. We need your help to enact this piece of legislation.
The bill probably had the votes to win a few weeks ago, but some presumed supporters— including Philadelphia Representatives Donatucci (D-185), Kenney (R-170), J. Taylor (R-177) and D. O’Brien (R-169) agreed to put off the vote for a time in the hopes of finding a compromise that would not incur the wrath of the lobbyists for Catholic Church. Rosita Youngblood (D-198) did not vote. Please act today to encourage these and other legislators to support HB 288, without any damaging amendments.
Most scientist believe that, most of the time, EC works by preventing fertilization of an egg by sperm. Some scientists believe that once in a while, Plan B works by preventing implantation of an already fertilized egg in a woman’s uterus. That, for some Catholic theologians is tantamount to abortion. And for the Catholic hierarchy in Pennsylvania, although not it seems for the hierarchy in Connecticut, that is reason to oppose legislation along the lines of HBA 288.
A compromise has been presented in the form of an amendment by Representative Ross (R-158). It allows medical professionals and hospital employees an exemption from providing rape victims information if doing so violate the conscience of an individual or the principles of the owner of the hospital provided that an independent contractor is hired by the hospital to provide this information.
This seems like a reasonable compromise. An unreasonable compromise is the one proposed by Rep. Grucel (D-138) someone which allows a victim to call an immediate family member about her assault, who would be expected to bring emergency contraception to the hospital, rather than have it provided by the medical professionals in charge of her care. As Planned Parenthood put it,
“We don’t expect a victim to sew up her own stitches! Why is it if she’s a victim of rape, she’s subjected to a lesser standard of medical care!? This arrangement also ignores the precarious nature of incest, and leaves out hundreds of women without family members nearby!”
Opposition to EC makes no sense to me in any respect. After all, we are talking about rape victims here. Only the most radical opponent of abortion would deny rape victims the right to an abortion. In addition EC is, most likely, not an agent that causes abortion at all. Moreover, the sooner a woman receives EC, the more likely it is to work to stop fertilization. So the kind of delay in receiving information about EC that would result from the failure of HB 288 or the passage of the bill with the Grucela amendment, would make abortion more not less likely.
So please, contact your legislator today especially if he or she is one of the Philadelphia Representatives, listed above or or Representative John Perzel or one of the following Representatives from Montgomery County: Godshall, Harper, Moyer, Murt, Quigley, and Vereb. You can find contact information for Southeaster PA legislators here.