EC in CT

The Connecticut state legislature has been considering a bill that would require hospitals to provide rape victims with immediate access to emergency contraception. At the legislative Public Health Committee public hearing on March 6, testimony was heard in support of this bill. Several people spoke against the bill, citing constitutional protections of freedom of religion as why the bill should not be passed.

The bill sort of disappeared for a while. The AP reported at one point that it had been defeated, but didn't say how, when, or where. I had been following this bill. I researched it as far as I could on line, then e-mailed the bill's sponsor in the state senate. What I was told was that after the hearing, the bill had to be voted out of the Public Health Committee (or not). I had seen it on the committee agenda for March 20, but, according to Senator McDonald's assistant, the committee was unable to fully discuss "concerns" before the voting deadline. I looked at the transcript. Of the four people not fully discussing concerns, three were republicans. None of the 17 democrats present spoke for the bill. This is a committee that's about 2/3 democrat, the party of choice. Right.

Here's my unsophisticated, uninformed take on what happened. To me this looks like a hands off, no direct blame way to defeat the bill. This way, it didn't have to be voted on directly by the committee members. It's a wimpy way to appease one side (the pro-religion side) while avoiding blame from the other. But there is a silver lining. Less than I week after I heard the bad news that the committee let the bill die like an exposed unwanted infant, I read this in the local mainstream press:

Last week, a bill requiring all hospitals to provide Plan B emergency contraception died in committee. Now, a similar proposal is included as a few words in the massive spending package approved Thursday by the Appropriations Committee. The one-sentence section allocates $5 million to help hospitals pay for increased energy costs, but the additional aid would only be given to hospitals that provide emergency contraception to rape victims.

Can I get hallelujah? Can I get an amen? Can I send flowers to the Appropriations Committee? I'm going to e-mail the committee leaders and thank them. They need the positive feedback. The christo-fascists who claim my medical treatment options should be dictated by the details of their belief systems which are based on an imaginary friend divinely manifesting the repressed motives of existentially depleted and cowardly individuals as universal laws will be out in force soon enough.