Retiring lawmaker presses emergency contraception measure
HARRISBURG – Helping rape victims get emergency contraception is one of the final two legislative priorities of Bucks County Republican Sen. Joe Conti, who is retiring from office at the end of November. Conti is pushing a measure called Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies to require hospitals to provide rape victims with the option of taking emergency contraception, which will block unwanted pregnancies.
About half the hospitals in Pennsylvania do not consistently offer rape victims the drug, according to survey of 173 hospitals by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.
The issue became apparent in July when a rape victim in Lebanon County was refused emergency contraction, also known as the “morning after pill,” by a Mennonite doctor at Good Samaritan Hospital. She had to call her gynecologist to get a prescription filled in Reading.
Democratic Leader H. William DeWeese (D-Waynesburg) is undertaking a similar effort in the House.
“We are united in unison to get this completed by the end of session,” Conti said at a Tuesday press conference. “We must act quickly on this legislation so not another woman in Pennsylvania will be denied medicine and counseling for what is easily the most traumatic moment in her life.”
But Conti, one of the more moderate Senate Republicans, acknowledged the political difficulty in passage. The chairman of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee has not yet committed to hear the bill, and even if it sails through committee House Republican leaders could block the gates to a floor vote.
He has just over two months before this term ends.
“I think we have enough votes to pass the Legislature – if we can get it to the floor for a vote.” Conti said.
Conti, who has been in office 13 years, said his other top priority is adding medical exams to eighth-grade public school students, a key age when cardiac problems are discovered in teenagers.
Alison Hawkes can be reached at 717-705-6330 or ahawkes@calkins-media.com.