STAND. COM. REP. NO. 908

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 411

       H.D. 2

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 411, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOSPITAL EMERGENCY COMPASSIONATE CARE FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to ensure that sexual assault victims are provided information about and access to emergency contraception when receiving emergency medical care at Hawaii's hospitals.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; Department of Human Services; Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; State of Hawaii Crime Victim Compassion Compensation Commission; City and County of Honolulu, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney; The Sex Abuse Treatment Center; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii; American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; Hawaii Medical Association; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; Hawaii Democratic Party, Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Caucus; Planned Parenthood; IMUAlliance; Domestic Violence Action Center; Kaiser Permanente Hawaii; Honolulu Pride; Community Alliance on Prisons; and six individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Hawaii Family Forum; Hawaii Family Advocates; Saint Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii; Hawaii Catholic Conference; and two individuals.

     Your Committee finds that, according to a report prepared by the Department of the Attorney General, there were three hundred fifty-three reported cases of forcible rape in Hawaii in 2011. Further, according to the United States Department of Justice, over half of all rapes are not reported to the police.  There are an estimated thirty-two thousand rape-related pregnancies every year in the United States.

     Your Committee further finds that emergency contraception is a safe and effective means of preventing pregnancy after sexual assault.  Providing information about and access to emergency contraception is the most widely recognized and accepted standard of care for sexual assault victims.  Your Committee also finds it necessary to require all hospitals in Hawaii to provide information about and access to all victims of sexual assault who present themselves for emergency medical treatment at Hawaii's hospitals.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 411, H.D. 2, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, Chair