Colorado Gov. Owens Vetoes Bill that Would Have Required Hospitals to Offer EC Information to Rape Survivors

Colorado Governor Bill Owens (R) on Tuesday vetoed a bill... (HB 1042) that would have required all hospitals in the state to inform sexual assault survivors of the availability of emergency contraception, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse, the Denver Post reports (Couch, Denver Post, 4/6). The bill -- which was approved 46-19 and 22-13 in the state House and Senate, respectively -- would have allowed individual health care workers but not hospitals to refrain from informing women about EC if they are morally opposed to it. However, health care workers with moral or religious objections would have been required to refer patients to another health professional who would be willing to discuss EC. Although hospitals would not have been exempt from providing EC information, the legislation would have allowed hospitals to refrain from providing the pills and instead refer women to pharmacies to obtain EC. Currently, hospitals in the state are not required to provide EC information to sexual assault survivors, and some refrain from providing such information (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 3/22). Owens, who is Catholic, said the legislation was "well-intentioned but probably unconstitutional" because it would have forced some religious institutions to violate their ethical guidelines, the AP/TheDenverChannel reports (Paulson, AP/TheDenverChannel, 4/5). In addition to opposing artificial contraception, some Catholics believe EC is a form of abortion because it can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterine wall, the Post reports. "It is one of the central tenets of a free society that individuals and institutions should not be coerced by government to engage in activities that violate their moral or religious beliefs," Owens wrote in his veto message.

Reaction, Next Steps
State Sen. Jennifer Veiga (D), who sponsored the Senate version of the measure, said, "It's a sad day when the governor decides that victims of sexual assault don't deserve compassionate medical care, which is all HB 1042 does" (Denver Post, 4/6). Veiga added that nothing in the legislation would have prohibited Catholic hospital employees from telling rape survivors that they believe EC could be equivalent to abortion (Bartels, Denver Rocky Mountain News, 4/6). State Rep. Betty Boyd (D), who sponsored the House version of the measure, said she would consider trying to get enough votes to override Owens' veto, but the state Senate currently is two votes short of the two-thirds necessary to override a gubernatorial veto, the Post reports (Denver Post, 4/6). Boyd, who has sponsored similar legislation for three consecutive years, said she plans to introduce similar legislation again next session (Denver Rocky Mountain News, 4/6).


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