Medicine: DOJ's rape treatment guidelines omit emergency contraception

Seeing as many pregnancy termination foes find the procedure palatable in the case of rape or incest, this seems like an ultimate act of political twistery. Emergency contraception is in no way abortion. Emergency contraception is health care. Emergency contraception is safe, prevents the situational need for an abortion, and psychologically reassures raped women who, last time I checked, need all the psychological support they can get. Hardly any woman wants to carry around the baby of a rapist for nine months, a constant growing reminder of violation and violence, and (although I don't necessarily find this to be a consistent ideology) most abortion foes seem to agree that she shouldn't have to.

The result is “a glaring omission in an otherwise thorough document,” the groups said in a letter sent to Diane Stuart, director of the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women.

Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the omission “a blatant example of politics taking precedence over the emotional and physical health needs of women.” Her organization, and other groups, contend that information about emergency contraception was included in an early draft of the guidelines, then removed from the final version because of political concerns.

To be clear with what I said above, I believe strongly that the termination of pregnancy for any reason is also health care. But abortion foes have often wrongly adopted emergency contraception into their circle of enemies, and Catholic aversion to birth control should be treated as a cultural anomaly for the purpose of health care guidelines for treating a traumatized woman.