State Senate Approves Emergency Contraception Bill
Synopsis: Massachusetts State Senate approves bill to increase women’s access to emergency contraception.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2004
State Senate Approves Bill to Increase Women’s Access to Emergency Contraception;
Women’s Health Advocates Applaud Decision, Anticipate Fight in House
Boston, MA – Following months of intense lobbying by women’s health and family planning advocates, the Massachusetts State Senate today approved a bill that will make Emergency Contraception (EC) available to rape survivors at Massachusetts emergency rooms and enable pharmacists to dispense EC without a prescription through a collaborative agreement with a physician.
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts – the state’s leading advocate for privacy and a woman’s right to choose – heralded the passage of S. 546 as an important victory for women’s health that will reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy in the Commonwealth.
“Today, the Senate has taken a positive step toward reducing unintended pregnancies in Massachusetts,” said Melissa Kogut, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts. “By enabling pharmacists to directly dispense EC, more women will have access to EC in the early hours after unprotected intercourse when it’s most effective. Better access to EC means fewer unintended pregnancies and therefore, fewer abortions. This is an important public health victory and we applaud the decision,” Kogut added.
The Senate vote comes on the heels of the FDA’s decision in May to deny a bid to make the Plan B® emergency contraceptive available over-the-counter. The widely criticized FDA decision came in spite of the recommendation of an independent scientific advisory panel that found EC to be safe for women and effective at preventing unintended pregnancies.
Women’s health advocates foresee a tougher battle for passage of the EC Bill in the House, given likely opposition from House Speaker Thomas Finneran. Following today’s victory, advocates will push for a vote on the House floor before the Summer recess.
EC, commonly known as “the morning-after pill,” is a safe and effective contraceptive method for use after sexual intercourse, when contraceptives have failed, or when no contraceptives were used. The sooner EC is used the better, but it can be taken within five days after unprotected sex. Accessibility to EC is widely seen as the principal barrier to its use. A 2002 survey by the NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts found that one in five hospital emergency rooms failed to make EC available to women who’d been raped.
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts is a co-founder of the Massachusetts Emergency Contraception Network, an alliance of community organizations, medical providers and government agencies united to improve access to EC. The EC Network will hold a public forum to explore access to EC on June 30 at 10:00AM at the State House featuring Michael Greene, MD, former Chair of the FDA’s Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee.
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