Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id iA8G9mM13745; Mon, 8 Nov 2004 11:09:48 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2004 11:09:48 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <s18f537f.093@mailsrv21.gsu.edu> Errors-To: listowner@nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Daphne Greenberg" <ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3056] information for adult learners X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 6.5.1 Status: O Content-Length: 2627 Lines: 41 For those of you who discuss health issues with your students, I thought that you may want to know about this, so that you can help your students be prepared if they are sexually assaulted and do not know about emergency contraceptives: According to Women's eNews, a set of guidelines dealing with the medical examination of rape and sexual assault victims commissioned and recently made public by the Department of Justice's Office on Violence against Women is noticeably lacking any mention of emergency contraception, enraging many doctors and victims' advocates.The report--the first ever "National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations" issued by the department--provides a detailed, 141-page set of guidelines for criminal justice and health care practitioners in responding to the immediate needs of sexual assault victims. Yet only one page is devoted to "pregnancy risk evaluation and care." It advises health care personnel to discuss the possibility of pregnancy with rape victims, administer pregnancy tests if given the patients' consent, and "discuss treatment options with patients, including reproductive health services." Those open-ended guidelines were the final product of a set of protocols that originally included direct mention of emergency contraception, according to several sources in contact with the document's reviewers who asked to remain anonymous. The Office on Violence against Women watered down the language, creating a glaring blank spot in an otherwise comprehensive report, those sources said. Discussing emergency contraception is standard medical protocol in examinations of rape victims, and some states even require by that victims be offered it. But the Bush administration has taken steps to limit women's access to emergency contraception. In May 2004, the federal Food and Drug Administration denied over-the-counter status for emergency contraception, against the recommendation of its own staff and advice of the American Medical Association and other medical authorities. In response to the Justice Department report, a group of women in the national nursing community are drafting a critique of the handling of the emergency contraception issue, according to a confidential e-mail read over the phone to Women's eNews. The critique is expected to run in the Journal of Emergency Nursing, an Illinois-based monthly publication. For more information: U.S. Department of Justice - Office on Violence Against Women-- - A National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations - (Adobe PDF format): - http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ovw/206554.pdf
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