New law protects health of sexual assault survivors

Assemblymember Susan John (D-Rochester/Chili/Riga/Rush/Wheatland) said that the governor has signed into law legislation she authored to assure victims of sexual assault access to emergency contraception. For three years, Assemblymember John has worked to have the Emergency Contraception Bill (A.15) become law. This law requires hospitals to provide emergency contraception to survivors of sexual assault. Emergency contraception is safe, effective, and approved by the federal FDA, a press release from the Assemblymember's office states. With this law, sexual assault survivors who seek emergency treatment in a hospital in New York state will have timely access to emergency contraception. The law will replace the ambiguous hospital policies and ensure the delivery of proper medical care to sexual assault survivors.

According to a study released earlier this year by Family Planning Advocates of New York and the New York Coalition Against Sexual Assault, as many as 1,000 sexual assault survivors a year are treated at hospital emergency departments in New York state without receiving emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy. The study also found that 27 hospitals across the state did not have a standard policy of dispensing emergency contraception. Some give prescription, which sexual assault survivors must fill at local pharmacies, while others sent women to private doctors, family planning clinics, or other hospitals.