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Introduced Version House Bill 2238 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2238


(By Delegates Brown, Hatfield, Guthrie and Fleischauer)
[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources.]




A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §16-2L-1, §16-2L-2 and §16-2L-3, all relating to emergency contraception.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §16-2L-1, §16-2L-2 and §16-2L-3
, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2L. EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION.
§16-2L-1. Legislative findings.

The Legislature finds:
(1) Crimes of sexual assault cause significant physical, emotional, and psychological trauma to the victims, and this trauma is compounded by a victim's fear of becoming pregnant and bearing a child as a result of the sexual assault;
(2) Each year over thirty-two thousand women become pregnant in the United States as the result of sexual assault and approximately fifty percent of these pregnancies end in abortion;
(3) Standards of emergency care established by the American Medical Association require that sexual assault victims be counseled about their risk of pregnancy and offered emergency contraception;
(4) Many hospitals do not make emergency contraception available to sexual assault victims; and
(5) As approved for use by the Federal Food and Drug Administration, emergency contraception can significantly reduce the risk of pregnancy;
(6) By providing emergency contraception to sexual assault victims in a timely manner, the trauma of sexual assault can be significantly reduced.
§16-2L-2. Definitions.
For the purposes of this article, the words or phrases defined in this section have the meanings ascribed to them. These definitions are applicable unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context.
(1) "Emergency contraception" means any drug or device approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration that may prevent pregnancy after intercourse.
(2) "Emergency care to sexual assault victims" means medical examinations, procedures, and services provided by a health care facility to a sexual assault victim following an alleged sexual assault.
(3) "Sexual assault victim" or "victim" means a female person alleged to have been the victim of an offense defined in article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of this code.
§16-2L-3. Emergency care to include informing sexual assault victim of emergency contraception; providing emergency contraception.

(a) It shall be the standard of care for hospitals that provide emergency care to sexual assault victims in this state to:
(1) Provide each sexual assault victim with medically and factually accurate and unbiased written and oral information about emergency contraception;
(2) Orally inform each sexual assault victim of her option to be provided emergency contraception immediately at the health care facility; and
(3) Provide emergency contraception immediately at the health care facility to each sexual assault victim who requests it
: Provided, That if the emergency contraception is in a form to be orally administered, the provision must include the initial dose, which the sexual assault victim can take at the hospital, and any follow-up dose, which the sexual assault victim can self-administer later.
(b) Every hospital providing services to alleged sexual assault victims must develop a protocol that ensures that each victim of sexual assault will receive medically and factually accurate and written and oral information about emergency contraception; the indications and counter-indications and risks associated with the use of emergency contraception; and a description of how and when victims may be provided emergency contraception upon the written order of a licensed physician. The department shall approve the protocol if it finds that the implementation of the protocol would provide sufficient protection for a victim of an alleged sexual assault.
(c) Each health care facility shall ensure that each person who provides care to sexual assault victims is provided with medically and factually accurate and unbiased information about emergency contraception.
(d) In addition to any other remedies, the Department of Health and Human Resources shall respond to complaints and shall periodically determine whether health care facilities are complying with this section. The department may use all means available to verify compliance with this section. If the department determines that a health care facility is not in compliance, the department shall:
(1) Impose a fine of $5,000 for each sexual assault victim denied medically and factually accurate and unbiased information about emergency contraception or who is not offered or provided emergency contraception;
(2) Impose a fine of $5,000 for failure to comply with subsection (b) of this section. For every thirty days that the health care facility is not in compliance with subsection (c) of this section, an additional fine of $5,000 shall be imposed; and
(3) After two violations, suspend or revoke the certificate of authority or deny the health care facility's application for certificate of authority.




NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to provide rape victims with reliable emergency information regarding pregnancy and abortion, and to provide those victims with emergency contraception if they desire it.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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