Some Massachusetts Hospitals Violating Law Requiring EC Be Offered To Rape Survivors, Survey Says

Some hospital emergency departments in Massachusetts are imposing "serious restrictions" on rape survivors' access to emergency contraception, which violates a state law that requires EDs to offer EC to rape survivors, according to a survey scheduled to be released on Thursday by NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reports (Abel, Boston Globe, 12/14). The law -- which also allows pharmacists to dispense the drug to women of all ages without a prescription -- was approved in September 2005 after the state Legislature overrode Gov. Mitt Romney's (R) veto (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 12/12/05). NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts for the survey had rape counselors in February and March make mock calls on behalf of potential clients to assess whether EC -- which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse -- was available at all of the state's 69 hospital EDs. The survey found that 7% of the EDs said the provision of EC was conditional upon the woman receiving a rape exam, and 7% of the departments said the provision of EC was left to physician discretion. About 56% of the nine Catholic hospitals in Massachusetts had significant limitations to EC access, but all nine offered it in "some capacity," according to the survey. "These policies are problematic because they leave open the possibility that a rape survivor may not have access to [EC] at a particular hospital," Melissa Kogut, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, said. According to the Globe, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts declined to release the names of hospitals that restricted EC access. Caritas Christi Health Care, the health care system used by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, in a statement said the six hospitals it runs in Massachusetts follow United States Conference of Catholic Bishops guidelines, which "affirm that a female sexual assault victim should be able to protect herself against a potential conception as a result of an assault if, after appropriate testing, there is no evidence conception has already occurred" (Boston Globe, 12/14).

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