Enact bill to help victims of rape

Hawaii needs to join the 21st century by adopting the standard of care for rape victims in its hospital emergency rooms, and this session lawmakers are poised to do so by passing House Bill 411.

This is a necessary step to ensure that rape victims get information about and access to emergency contraception, sometimes known as EC or "Plan B." That way, victims will be able to avoid compounding the trauma of their sexual assault by preventing an unwanted pregnancy.

As written, HB 411 does not include any alternative means of compliance for a emergency-care facility run by a religious institution that objects to this rule.

Although this would appear not to be an impediment for hospital administrations now doing business in Hawaii, it would be a good idea to enable such an alternative to cover some future, unforeseen circumstances. For example, emergency-care staff in a religious institution that objects could provide access to emergency contraception by transporting the patient to another facility, once the more immediate assault injuries have been treated.

On Oahu, this might have been a more pressing concern when St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii, a Catholic institution, owned the former Hawaii Medical Center West campus. The hospital, which serves the growing Ewa communities, recently was acquired by The Queen’s Health Systems. Under current plans, the hospital will reopen in 2014.

Statements from executives of both Queen’s and St. Francis confirmed that the purchase deal included an agreement that Queen’s executives "would abide by the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services" that governed the St. Francis operation, as well as any state laws.

These directives would preclude any medication or procedures that would terminate a pregnancy. Studies indicate the Plan B medication primarily prevents ovulation, not implantation of an embryo, and does not initiate an abortion process. Regardless, the Catholic policy also bars the dispensing of contraception generally.

It’s unclear how Queen’s would honor both the directives and state laws, which is why enabling an alternative means of compliance would be prudent.

However, the bottom line is that lawmakers need to act in the best interest of all. The state Senate Committee on Health made the correct call by passing HB 411, which should proceed to final approval.

The statistics bear out the wisdom of this move. Nationally more than half of rape cases go unreported to police. In 2011, the most recent year with fully compiled data, state records tally 353 cases of forcible rape. If the national trends bear out, the emergency rooms could be the first and last point of intervention for hundreds of victims who critically need state protection.

Patricia McManaman, director of the state Department of Human Services, testified that DHS will cover the estimated $10,000 annual cost of emergency contraception on a fee-for-service basis.

The average rate of pregnancy resulting from rape stands at 5-8 percent, she said. And that outcome could be avoided, with a law that makes prompt medical intervention a mandate.

The Legislature should meet its responsibility to the needs of victims of these violent crimes by enacting HB 411.