Gotta Love Jersey

While the FDA stalls on making a decision of whether emergency contraception should be made available without a prescription, New Jersey has joined the short but increasing list of states that require hospitals to offer EC to rape victims. Good job, Jers!
The five other states — New York, California, Washington, New Mexico and Illinois — have had the requirement for all hospitals to, at the very least, offer information about EC and tell them where they can obtain it, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription). Colorado has just passed a similar bill as well, but needs to be signed by the governor.
The Department of Justice has actually been getting quite a lot of shit for omitting EC from the national protocol for treating sexual assault victims. A 141-page protocol was released in September after three years of work, but with not one reference of the method. Only four months later, a letter was sent out from a coalition of medical and advocacy groups requesting a correction for the “glaring omission.” The department hasn’t responded as of yet.
I guess we’ll just have to sit and wait on that one as well, won’t we. Sigh.