STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1324

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 Judiciary and Labor, 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 Human Services; Department of Health; Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, City and County of Honolulu; Mental Health America of Hawai‘i; Hawaii Medical Association; Community Alliance of Prisons; Democratic Party of Hawai‘i Women's Caucus; Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii; Zonta Club of Hilo; Domestic Violence Action Center; The Sex Abuse Treatment Center; American Academy of Pediatrics, Hawaii Chapter; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; Kaiser Permanente Hawaii; American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i; IMUAlliance; Planned Parenthood of Hawaii; American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Hawaii Section; Hawai‘i Women Lawyers; Hawaii Women's Coalition; League of Women Voters of Hawaii; and one hundred fifty-three individuals.  Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by Pro-Family Hawaii, Hawaii Family Forum, Hawaii Catholic Conference, St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii, and eight individuals.  One individual submitted comments on this measure.

     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.  Furthermore, 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.  Therefore, your Committee finds it appropriate 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 Judiciary and Labor 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 Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair