For immediate release
April 25, 2007

Contact: Matt Sande, Director of Legislation, (262) 352-0890
or Marc Tuttle, Communications Director, (262) 796-1111

Senate Committee to Hear EC Hospital Mandate Bill
Legislation is bad medicine, says Pro-Life Wisconsin

The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services will hold a public hearing Wednesday, April 25 at the State Capitol on Senate Bill (SB) 129, legislation mandating that Wisconsin hospitals inform an alleged victim of sexual assault about “emergency contraception” and provide it upon her request.

Emergency contraception (EC), also known as the ‘morning-after’ pill, is basically two high doses of the birth control pill taken within a 72-hour period. The most commonly used emergency contraceptive pill package is Plan B. Plan B is associated with blood clot formation and a heightened risk of ectopic pregnancy. There are no long-term studies to show whether women will be permanently damaged, or risk such diseases as cancer, from these chemicals being given in such high doses.

“Forcing doctors to immediately provide medication to patients based solely upon their request is simply bad medicine,” said Matt Sande, director of legislation for Pro-Life Wisconsin. “In the case of emergency contraception, such a policy could contradict a physician’s medical judgment as EC could be medically contraindicated for the patient.”

Pro-Life Wisconsin’s primary opposition to SB 129 is based on the abortion-causing action of so-called “emergency contraception.” EC can work in three ways: to suppress ovulation; to inhibit the mobility of sperm, and to alter the lining of the uterus so that a newly conceived child is unable to implant in the womb, thus starving and dying. This last action is pre-implantation chemical abortion.

“There is no truthful person educated in medicine that would deny the possibility that ‘emergency contraception’ may prevent the embryo from implanting in the womb,” said Amy K. Schueckler M.D., a licensed obstetrician and gynecologist from Green Bay. “The clearest analogy is a barefoot toddler clad only in a diaper who wanders outside in the subzero winter snow and is not allowed into a warm home. The child will die. That is the effect of EC on the uterus. The embryonic child will die,” said Schueckler.

Wisconsin law protects the right of hospitals to refuse to participate in morally objectionable practices such as abortion and sterilization. The proposed legislation appears to be in conflict with Wisconsin Statutes 253.09(1) because of the abortion causing effect of so-called emergency contraceptive drugs, as well as with the Wisconsin Constitution which expressly protects the rights of conscience. Under Article 1, Section 18 of the state constitution “any control of, or interference with, the rights of conscience” shall not be permitted. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution further guarantees the right to freely exercise one’s religion convictions.

“Forcing all hospitals to administer ‘emergency contraception’ violates the religious liberty provision of the First Amendment,” said Schueckler. “I urge the Committee to uphold the constitutional rights of medical professionals and reject Senate Bill 129.”

Pro-Life Wisconsin sympathizes with victims of sexual assault. It is exceedingly difficult, however, to determine whether or not fertilization has occurred at the time EC is directed to be taken. Although SB 129 does not require a hospital “to provide emergency contraception to a victim who is pregnant, as indicated by a test for pregnancy,” a standard pregnancy test cannot accurately determine fertilization nor is it designed to do so. Standard pregnancy tests only determine implantation.

“The situation can be likened to a hunter who sees something moving in the bushes and holds his fire until he is sure that it is not a person,” said Sande. “We must always err on the side of protecting innocent human life.”

The public hearing on SB 129 will be held in Room 411 South of the State Capitol Building in Madison at 10:00 a.m.

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