Just what the hospital didn't order
Rape response up to pharmacists in bill Print By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News
January 31, 2006 Pharmacists would be allowed to dispense emergency contraception under a bill introduced Monday in the House.
The measure by Rep. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, bypasses hospitals, which she believes gives it a better chance to be signed into law. Gov. Bill Owens vetoed a measure last year that required hospitals - including those owned by the Catholic Church - to provide information about emergency contraception to rape victims. "This is a step, a good step, in giving women more control over their health," Boyd said of her current proposal. If House Bill 1212 becomes law, emergency contraception would be the only drug that pharmacists could distribute to patients without a doctor's prescription. The Colorado Pharmacists Association is backing the measure after making sure it included a provision authorizing but not requiring a pharmacist to distribute the drug. "The 'not requiring' was a key thing for ethical, moral and patient safety reasons," said Val Calnins, executive director of the pharmacy group. Pharmacists might not want to distribute the drug because they don't know enough about it or are morally opposed, he said. Emergency contraception is defined in the bill as "any drug that prevents pregnancy after sexual intercourse, including but not limited to oral contraceptive pills." It does not include RU-486 or any other drug that induces a "medication abortion," according to the bill. Tim Dore, executive director of the the Colorado Catholic Conference, the public policy arm for the state's three dioceses, said he hadn't reviewed the bill yet. But he pointed out that there is concern because some Catholic hospitals have pharmacies on site. "We would be suspect of any legislation that would require a Catholic entity to violate their moral views," Dore said. The Colorado Catholic Conference led the fight last year to defeat an emergency contraception proposal from Boyd and Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver. The bill required hospitals to adopt protocols to inform a sexual-assault survivor of the availability of emergency contraception and to offer to dispense it or give a referral. Hospitals were not required to provide the pills, and it excluded any health care professional who objected to the practice on religious or moral grounds. Several anti-abortion Republican lawmakers voted for the bill, saying it was simply about providing information to women. Owens, who vetoed last year's measure, has not reviewed this year's bill, said his spokesman, Dan Hopkins.
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