A bill introduced in the Utah State Legislature makes emergency contraception available to sexual assault victims, but critics say its provisions don't do enough to help.
Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, introduced House Bill 227 which provides emergency access to contraception for rape victims. But it also requires them to go to police or for a sexual assault hotline to present someone with options including going to police.
"We have so many women who are being sexually assaulted, but we have very, very few who are prosecuted for sexual assaults," she said."And that has a requirement for law enforcement, every agency to create a policy on how they’re going to handle these cases. If a woman’s going to go call law enforcement that’s the choice she makes, she knows what’s going to happen next so she can feel comforted.
Even before the bill was filed, it was getting attention. Rep. Birkeland's own sister, a sexual assault survivor, criticized the pending legislation in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune.
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