A bill allowing pharmacists to prescribe emergency contraception to girls and women in Colorado cleared one of its final legislative hurdles Thursday but appeared headed for a veto.
The Senate tentatively approved House Bill 1212 by a 21-14 vote. Final approval is expected today.
But Republican Gov. Bill Owens has “strong concerns” about the bill, particularly a provision allowing pharmacists to give the pills to minors without medical consultation, said Owens’ spokesman, Dan Hopkins.
Owens also has voiced concerns about whether it is “proper” to have pharmacists prescribe drugs, Hopkins said.
The bill’s sponsor, Democratic Sen. Betty Boyd, said she expects Owens to veto the measure.
Last year, he vetoed a bill that would have required health care providers to inform rape victims about emergency contraception. An attempt to override his action failed in the House.
Boyd said Democrats probably won’t try an override this year because she expects the same results.
However, she said, a group of supporters plans to hold a news conference next week to urge Owens to sign the bill.
This is the fourth year Boyd has tried to pass an emergency- contraception bill but the first she has tried to give pharmacists the ability to dispense it.
The federal Food and Drug Administration, Boyd said, approved the so-called morning- after pill for women of child- bearing age, so she doesn’t think the bill should have age limits.
Besides, she said, FDA staff has recommend that the Plan B pill be sold over the counter, but its approval is being blocked by the Bush administration.
“We can prevent an awful lot of pregnancies and an awful lot of abortions from now until the time the drug is available over the counter,” said Boyd, of Lakewood.
The morning-after pill is not RU-486, the abortion pill, said Democratic Sen. Jennifer Veiga, a bill sponsor.
Rather, it is a more concentrated form of common birth- control pills. The morning-after pill works by delaying ovulation in the woman or by preventing the man’s sperm from reaching the woman’s egg.
There is a 1 in 1,000 chance the pill could prevent a fertilized egg from implanting on the uterine wall, said Veiga, of Denver.
That fact rankled senators who believe life begins when an egg is fertilized.
“Those of us that believe life begins at conception really take exception to this statement that emergency contraception prevents pregnancy before it occurs,” said Republican Sen. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs.
Republican Sen. Nancy Spence of Centennial said: “To me it’s not about abortion because it’s not an abortion pill. This is contraception.”
Republican Sen. Ron Teck of Grand Junction said that while he applauded trying to reduce the number of abortions, he was uncomfortable with the implications of a “fertilized egg being destroyed.”
“Perhaps if science can come up with some guarantees, I’d be more comfortable with it,” he said.
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-820-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.