Report Title:

Health; Emergency Contraception

 

Description:

Requires a hospital, including a public health facility, to provide information and emergency contraception to a sexual assault victim; requires training; includes penalties.

 


THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

1067

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to health.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that each year in the United States, one out of every five women is forcibly raped.  Based on law enforcement reports, it is estimated that every six minutes, a woman is sexually assaulted.  According to the Federal Bureau Uniform Crime Reports, there were three hundred four forcible rapes reported in Hawaii in 2002.  However, the Department of Justice National Crime Victimization Surveys indicates that over fifty per cent of all rapes are not reported to law enforcement.

     After a woman is sexually assaulted, she faces the additional trauma of the possibility of an unwanted pregnancy by the rapist.  Each year, over thirty-two thousand women become pregnant as a result of a sexual assault.  It is estimated that fifty per cent of these pregnancies end in abortion.

     Standards of emergency medical care established by the American Medical Association require female victims of sexual assault to be counseled regarding the risk of pregnancy and be offered emergency contraception.  The United States Food and Drug Administration approved emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse.  However, according to a 1997 Kaiser Family Foundation report, most women of reproductive age do not know enough about emergency contraception to ask for it.  Only eleven per cent of the women were aware of the availability of emergency contraception and that the treatment must be initiated within seventy-two hours of sexual intercourse.  One statewide study revealed inconsistent protocols and a lack of written policies regarding the treatment of victims of sexual assault in Hawaii's emergency rooms.

     The purpose of this Act is to ensure that victims of sexual assaults are given information about emergency contraception when they receive medical care at a hospital for sexual assault, and that they have immediate access to emergency contraception if they request it.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 321, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"Part   .  emergency contraception

     §321‑    Definitions.  For the purpose of this part:

     "Emergency contraception" means a drug that:

     (1)  Is used postcoitally;

     (2)  Prevents pregnancy by delaying ovulation, preventing fertilization of an egg, or preventing implantation of an egg in a uterus; and

     (3)  Is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

     "Hospital" includes:

     (1)  An institution with an organized medical staff, regulated under section 321‑11(10), that admits patients for inpatient care, diagnosis, observation, and treatment; and

     (2)  A health facility under chapter 323F.

     "Medical care" means every type of care, treatment, surgery, hospitalization, attendance, service, and supplies as the nature of the injury requires.

     "Sexual assault" means any act of sexual penetration prohibited in chapter 707.

     "Sexual assault survivor" means a female who alleges or is alleged to have been sexually assaulted.

     §321‑    Emergency contraception.  (a)  Any hospital that provides medical care to a sexual assault survivor shall:

     (1)  Provide the sexual assault survivor with medically and factually accurate written and oral information about emergency contraception;

     (2)  Orally inform the sexual assault survivor that the sexual assault survivor has the option to receive emergency contraception at the hospital;

     (3)  Provide emergency contraception immediately, at the hospital, to each sexual assault survivor who requests it, including the initial dose that the sexual assault survivor may take at the hospital, and any further dosage as may be necessary; and

     (4)  Ensure that each person at the hospital who may provide medical care to a sexual assault survivor is trained, using medically and factually accurate written and oral information, regarding emergency contraception and sexual assault treatment.

     (b)  The cost of any emergency contraception dispensed pursuant to this part shall be paid by the department using moneys from the domestic violence and sexual assault special fund under section 321‑1.3.

     (c)  The department shall adopt rules in accordance with chapter 91.

     §321‑    Enforcement; administrative penalties.  (a)  The department may set, charge, and collect administrative fines and recover administrative fees and costs, including attorney's fees and costs, resulting from a violation of this part or any rule adopted under this part.

     (b)  The department shall:

     (1)  Establish a policy and procedure to monitor compliance with this part, including a complaint process; and

     (2)  Provide written notice to any hospital that the department determines is in violation of this part or any rule adopted under this part, including an opportunity to take corrective action.

     (c)  Any hospital that violates this part or any rule adopted under this part after receiving written notice and an opportunity to take corrective action pursuant to subsection (b)(2) shall be fined not more than $1,000 for each separate offense."

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on January 1, 2008.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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