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‘Compassionate Care’ bill hits Assembly road bump

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by Beth Mueller

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

A bill requiring doctors to provide emergency contraception to victims of rape stopped one step short of Gov. Jim Doyle’s desk late Tuesday night.

If passed, the legislation would require a hospital to provide a rape victim with information about emergency contraception, to inform her of the option to receive the contraception and to provide it immediately if she requests it. The Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault calls the bill "Compassionate Care for Rape Victims," while Pro-Life Wisconsin dubs it the "Chemical Abortion Hospital Mandate."

Rep. Terry Musser, R-Black River Falls, and Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, introduced the legislation among others in the Assembly.

The bill also stipulates that "no hospital must provide emergency contraception to a victim who is pregnant, as indicated by a test for pregnancy."

Debate on the legislation lasted well into the night, but a final vote was stalled until the Legislature's next meeting — Jan 15, 2008. However, the substitute amendment — essentially confirming the original bill's objectives, passed the Republican-controlled Assembly in a 56-41 vote.

"The bill won't fully pass [Tuesday], but it's clear there are and will be enough votes to pass it the next time we meet," said Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford.

In the course of the debate, Republican representatives attempted to attach a few amendments to the original bill, including one that would make an exception for hospitals and hospital employees who have religious or moral objections to the use of emergency contraception.

Matt Sande, legislative director for Pro-Life Wisconsin, said the amendment would defend conscience rights of doctors and organizations, or the right to refrain from administering treatment that violates religious or moral beliefs.

"Legislators can't pick and choose which conscience rights to uphold and protect," Sande said. "These conscience rights are expressly protected in our Wisconsin Constitution; the bill is patently unconstitutional."

Sande also called the bill "bad medicine" because it forces a doctor to "dispense a powerful drug upon a patient's request — immediately upon her request" without checks for whether the medicine will produce any negative reactions within the patient, due to issues like pre-existing conditions.

In a previous interview with The Badger Herald, Julie Laundrie, spokesperson for Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, said Erpenbach supports the bill because he "believes victims of rape should be treated respectfully and have all the information about their options for them to make informed decisions after they have been victim of a crime."

Another amendment shot down at the Capitol Tuesday would have allowed doctors to dispense emergency contraception to victims younger than 16 years old "only if the hospital first makes a reasonable attempt to notify one of the victim's parents."

Both the Assembly and Senate started their special session Tuesday as requested by Doyle Nov. 30, but neither house addressed any legislation during the sessions regarding public funding of Wisconsin Supreme Court elections or any of Doyle's other requested initiatives.

One step closer to "Wisconsin Christmas Tree"

In a vote of 84-12, the Assembly also approved a bill introduced by Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, to rename the Capitol's Holiday Tree a "Christmas Tree."

The Senate did not vote on the joint resolution, as Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, told The Associated Press the bill will never be brought up in the Senate.

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Anonymous (December 12, 2007 @ 3:54pm):

Thank you Russ Decker. Gov. Doyle is right. People should call the tree whatever they like. Meanwhile, the Assembly wastes time voting on a resolution and don't get emergency contraception done. I hate the people of WI wake up and vote out the GOP extremists next Nov. Tery Musser is not your typical Republican, but there are only a few who are not extremuists these days.

Anonymous (December 14, 2007 @ 8:39am):

Let's see... I get violated and raped by a man I don't know, go to the hospital and am told that if I may become pregnant from said rape I have to have it because the doctor treating me has moral/religious values to uphold to their selves. Uh, no. Your oath is to do the best thing for your patient, not be selfish and push your views on them. The simplest way to make a woman hate her child is to make her look at her rapist for the rest of her life because it wasn't "right" for her to terminate a pregnancy that had no business happening in the first place. As for the politicians, it is also your duty to do what is best for all citizens of Wisconsin, not just the ones lining your pockets. Your moral/religion values have nothing to do with doing right by the citizens of our state. Voting on what a giant tree in the capital should be called should not be a top priority. Work on things like rape victim's rights, union contracts, budget issues, civil unions, anything to try to not take away our personal rights, and not personal vendettas or pet projects.

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