New York, New Jersey Officials Urge Department of Justice To Include EC Information in Rape Survivor Treatment Guide

New York and New Jersey officials on Thursday in Washington, DC, told an advisory committee examining ways to strengthen the federal Violence
Against Women Act that the... Department of Justice guidelines for the treatment of sexual assault
survivors should be updated to include information about emergency contraception, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports (De La
Cruz, AP/Long Island Newsday, 2/11). DOJ's first-ever medical guidelines for the treatment of sexual assault survivors, which were published in
September 2004, include a section on pregnancy "risk evaluation and care" that instructs health care personnel to consider a survivor's fear of pregnancy,
administer a pregnancy test and "discuss treatment options, including reproductive health services." However, the guidelines do not specifically mention
EC, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of intercourse (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 1/7). Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), in remarks read to the committee,
said, "Of the 300,000 women who are sexually assaulted each year in this country, an estimated 25,000 will become pregnant," adding, "The use of
emergency contraception could significantly reduce this number of unintended pregnancies." Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), in remarks submitted to the
committee, said that omitting information on EC from the guidelines "belies [DOJ's] disregard for women and their control over their sexual and
reproductive health." DOJ has said that the matter of including information on EC in the guidelines "would be reviewed," but the department has "made no
guarantees," according to the AP/Newsday (AP/Long Island Newsday, 2/11).


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