Karen Minnis

[May 25th, 2005] This week's Rogue comes straight outta Salem. That's where House Speaker Karen Minnis is mapping a hard road for a bill making emergency contraception easily available to rape and incest survivors.

Emergency contraception, a.k.a. "morning-after pills," works by preventing ovulation or fertilization, not by ending pregnancy. They contain the same hormones as common birth-control pills, only in a higher dosage. And when taken within 24 hours of unprotected intercourse, morning-after pills reduce the risk of pregnancy by 95 percent.

Current law says you need your doctor's prescription to get those morning-after pills. But a bill (SB 849) that has passed the Oregon Senate would make it possible for a woman to get the pill directly from a pharmacist without a doctor's appointment.

"Over 40 percent of rape, sexual assault and incest survivors don't want anyone to know what happened to them," says the bill's chief sponsor, Sen. Richard Devlin, D-Tualatin. "For this reason, they may choose to not seek medical attention. SB 849 is an important element in improving the medical response to these survivors."

Devlin's bill breezed through the Dem-controlled Senate. But the House, run by Minnis, will prove tougher.

Minnis has referred the measure to the State and Federal Affairs Committee, chaired by House Majority Leader Wayne Scott. The Speaker's selection of a committee headed by Scott, who co-sponsored the anti-choice parental notification bill that passed the House this month, discourages SB 849's supporters.

"We think the Speaker is sending a message that she is not interested in the bill reaching the governor's desk," says Becca Uherbelau, Oregon director for Planned Parenthood Advocates.

Uherbelau says Minnis, an abortion opponent, should be doing everything in her power to prevent unintended pregnancies.

Minnis did not return WW's messages seeking comment.