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Newsday (USA), January 11, 2005 U.S. Shift on
Rape Victims New federal guidelines for treating rape victims don't mention offering emergency contraception - an omission drawing criticism from local hospital counselors who work with rape victims. Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, blasted the Justice Department rape guidelines yesterday, noting that 278 groups, including some with religious affiliations, have asked for an amendment to the protocol that describes in detail how to deal with sexually transmitted disease but barely mentions pregnancy prevention. Feldt said she has asked all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who support abortion rights to seek the views of White House counsel Alberto Gonzales on the rape guidelines as they consider his nomination for attorney general. "This will be the guidebook that medical providers will look at. It's completely unfathomable," Feldt said. "Why would women have to have a double trauma [rape and pregnancy] when one trauma is so easily preventable?" New York State law requires hospitals to offer rape victims emergency contraceptive pills, which can prevent pregnancy. The Justice Department guidelines, which are advisory and would not supersede state law, only advise discussing "reproductive health services." Hospital workers in New York City and on Long Island said yesterday that failing to offer women emergency contraception would be a serious omission and some said it could violate medical ethics. "If you know about it [emergency contraception] and don't offer it, it's another kind of victimization and this time it's federally condoned," said Rebecca Carman, coordinator of the sexual assault forensic examiner program at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens. At Stony Brook University Hospital, Judy Specht, a nurse and sexual assault examiner who works closely with the Suffolk County police, said it's urgent that women receive emergency contraceptives as soon as possible after a rape if they want it because the pills work only for a short period of time. "There's a very short window of opportunity," Specht said. "I would think it's a lot more beneficial to prevent a pregnancy than to become pregnant and then have an abortion." Emergency contraceptive pills, known by the brand name Plan B, are used after unprotected intercourse and are most effective when taken as soon as possible within 72 hours. Rochelle Frounfelker, an emergency department coordinator at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, emphasized the importance of emergency contraception to rape victims. "As a health issue, any assault victim should be offered that option," Frounfelker said. "It's dangerous in areas where it hasn't been put into legislation because it can be left up to the individual hospital." Eric Holland, a Justice Department spokesman, said the guidelines were prepared "pursuant to a congressional mandate" but could not immediately address other questions yesterday. << Newsday -- 1/11/05 >> Home About Us Newsletters News Archives Donate
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