In general, I get a little uncomfortable when lawmakers, on either side of the aisle, start playing doctor. That said, a Colorado bill, mandating that health care facilities let rape victims know about their emergency contraception options, didn’t seem terribly intrusive. In fact, it seemed to be a common-sense part of the overall Dem drive to reduce unwanted pregnancies.
The bill worked its way through the Colorado legislature and generated bi-partisan support. This wasn’t about public funding; it wasn’t even about abortion since emergency contraception prevents a fertilized egg from being implanted in a uterus; it was just about giving victims of sexual assault information so they can make informed choices.
But my friend Peter R. alerted me to the bill’s disappointing fate: a veto.
Republican Gov. Bill Owens yesterday vetoed a bill that would have forced hospitals to tell rape victims about emergency contraception, saying it would have crossed the line by forcing church-backed institutions to violate their own ethics guidelines.
Owens, who has described himself as a Bush-style “compassionate conservative,” doesn’t have much of an argument here. Essentially, conservative religious leaders told Owens they didn’t like the bill and the governor followed their instructions.
Having said that, I was struck by how terribly unpersuasive the religious argument was here.
Timothy Dore, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference, said lawmakers had no business telling church hospitals they had to refer rape victims to clinics that would provide a morning-after pill.
“That was a cooperation with evil we could not tolerate,” he said.
Putting aside the argument that it seems far more “evil” to deny information to a rape victim that could prevent an unwanted pregnancy, I was intrigued by the “lawmakers had no business” approach.
I haven’t gone though the Colorado state budget lately, but if church hospitals receive financial support from the state, then lawmakers absolutely have an obligation to regulate how health care services are delivered.
Private hospitals are rarely completely “private.” It’s not terribly convincing to hear that a hospital will accept public financial support, but not some mild regulation to protect victims of sexual assault.