A bill that would halt the advertising, prescribing and dispensing of emergency contraceptives on University of Wisconsin campuses passed the Wisconsin State Assembly in mid-June and has been sent to the state Senate, where it could be considered as soon as this fall. The contraceptive, also known as EC or the morning-after pill, has been available in the UW System without a doctor’s appointment.
University Health Services found itself at the center of a controversy last spring when it ran an advertisement in UW-Madison’s two campus newspapers reminding female students to pack emergency-contraceptive pills for spring break.
“What disturbed me at the time was the way the advertisement stated that students could get the prescription with a simple phone call,” said state Rep. Dan LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, who authored the bill. “And I didn’t think that type of easy access without proper counseling was the proper way the University Health Services should be operating.” The divisive ad caught LeMahieu’s attention when he saw a story about it on a local TV news station.
LeMahieu said he does not believe UW System student health services should administer emergency contraception because it prevents a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.
“After I started looking [at] what the morning-after pill actually does, I thought it would be better for a student to go to a family doctor or a hospital for that type of service,” LeMahieu said, adding that the intention of the bill is not to bar students from actually using the morning-after pill.
Because of its highly controversial subject, the bill has caught the attention of the state attorney general’s office. Though LeMahieu claims he has spoken with lawyers who defend the bill’s constitutionality, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager gauged the bill unconstitutional due to several specific women’s-rights violations.
Lautenschlager’s position has caught the attention of other Assembly members, including Assistant Assembly Democratic Leader Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee.
In a release, Richards said the legislation is “nothing but a mean-spirited attempt to roll back the clock on women’s health issues … I hope the Attorney General’s opinion will bring increased scrutiny to this and other bills that block a woman’s access to birth control.”
As the bill makes it way through the state Senate, some proponents of the legislation say the use of EC could lead to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases.
UHS Clinical Services Director Scott Spear, M.D., said there is no evidence to prove this.
“There are a number of studies that show that availability of EC doesn’t increase the likelihood that they are going to have sex or unprotected sex,” Spear said.
Since emergency contraceptives have been available at UHS, there has been a decrease in unwanted pregnancies among students — and probably a decrease in the number of abortions, Spear added.
Though UHS does not regret running the ad, Spear said it probably should have been worded differently. “I think we can safely say [the ad] didn’t have the intended effect,” he said.
Despite inflammatory responses to the advertisement, Spear urged women on campus to be cognizant of their reproductive health.
“We think that emergency contraception is an essential part of women’s health care on this campus,” Spear said, adding he doubts the bill would ever be made into law.
Gov. Doyle has vowed to veto the bill if passed by the Senate.
