Hospitals could be required to provide emergency contraception

All Missouri hospitals would be required to provide emergency contraception for
victims of sexual assault under a bill heard by the House Committee on Children and
Families Wednesday [March 9].

The bill, which has been called the Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies
Act, would ensure that 100 percent of Missouri hospitals and health care facilities
have the drug in stock at all times. A 2009 study found fewer than 50 percent of the
state's hospitals stock emergency contraception, according to Paige Sweet of the
National Abortion and Reproductive Rights league.

The patient would not be required to take the emergency contraceptive, but the
hospital would be required to inform the woman of its availability.

The Rev. Pat Vollertsen's daughter, Amanda Vollertsen, was the victim of a sexual
assault that resulted in pregnancy. Pat Vollertsen, a constituent from St. Louis,
testified in favor of the bill on behalf of her daughter, who has a developmental
disability.

"Had we had this offered to us, Amanda would not be afraid of people," Pat
Vollertsen said. "She might even have a boyfriend. She would be a different person
now with much less fear in her life."

The pregnancy threatened Amanda Vollertsen's life, and because of the moratorium on
abortion in Missouri at that time, her family was forced to travel to Kansas for her
abortion procedure. Pat Vollertsen described the experience as "the hardest thing
I've ever had to do in my whole life."

The Missouri Catholic Conference was among the organizations that testified against
the bill. Tyler McClay, who serves as the conference's general counsel, spoke at the
hearing.

"The directives (of the church) say that it is not morally permissible to initiate
or recommend treatments that have as their purpose, or direct effect, the removal,
destruction or interference with the implantation of a fertilized ovum," McClay
said.

Emergency contraceptive, commonly known as "the morning after pill," prevents
ovulation and inhibits fertilization. According to a 1999 report by the Princeton
Office of Population Research, the pill is known to reduce the risk of pregnancy by
89 percent if taken within the first 72 to 100 hours after unprotected sex.