EIGHTY-SECOND SESSION
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY,
2007
02/13/2007
Introduced by: Senators
Nesselhuf, Abdallah, Heidepriem, Jerstad, Katus, Knudson, McCracken, Napoli,
and Olson (Ed) and Representatives Halverson, Ahlers, Cutler, Elliott,
Engels, Feinstein, Hills, Kirkeby, Lucas, McLaughlin, Nygaard, Street,
Thompson, and Van Norman
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED, An Act to
provide for appropriate emergency health care for rape survivors and to
require health care facilities and the Department of Health to provide
information to rape survivors.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
Section
2. Every health care facility
providing emergency care to a rape survivor shall promptly provide such
survivor with medically and factually accurate and objective written and
oral information pursuant to section 3 of this Act, relating to emergency
contraception. No health
care facility is required to provide emergency contraception to a woman.
Nothing in this Act prevents a health care facility from providing
emergency contraception or a prescription for emergency contraception to a
woman.
Section
3. The Department of Health shall
develop, prepare, and produce medically and factually accurate and objective
informational materials relating to emergency contraception for distribution
to and use in all health care facilities in the state, in quantities
sufficient to comply with the requirements of this Act. The Department of
Health may also approve informational materials from medically recognized
sources for the purposes of this Act. Such informational material shall be
in clear and concise language, readily comprehensible, in such varieties and
forms as the Department of Health deems necessary to inform rape survivors
in English and languages other than English. Such materials shall explain
the nature of emergency contraception including its use, safety, efficacy,
and availability and will conform to the Food and Drug Administration's
guidelines regarding emergency contraception.
Section
4. No health care facility,
physician, nurse, or other person, is required to provide such rape survivor
with materials developed and approved pursuant to Section 3 if doing so is
contrary to the religious, moral, or ethical tenets of the health care
facility, physician, nurse, or other person.