DENVER-
Gov. Bill Ritter signed a measure Thursday requiring hospitals to tell rape victims they can get emergency contraception, winning praise from an abortion-rights group and triggering a backlash from an abortion opponent.
The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League’s Colorado political arm called it “the first pro-choice measure signed into law since 1999.”
That prompted Rep. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, to cry foul.
“We were told it wasn’t abortion. When you have a pro-abortion organization taking credit for it, I think it exposes their agenda,” said Rep. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs.
Amanda Mountjoy, spokeswoman for Republican Majority for Choice, a group that supports abortion rights, said 73 percent of registered Republicans are pro-choice. She said Republicans should support the new law because it prevents abortions.
“It’s ultimately going to reduce abortions,” she said.
Rep. Anne McGihon, D-Denver, said women deserve the protection offered by the law, estimating that two-thirds of Colorado women are victims of sexual assault, including many who never report it.
“At least we can make sure (the victims) have some peace of mind that they aren’t carrying a rapist’s child,” she said.
Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, said it took five years to get the measure (Senate Bill 60) signed into law after conservative Republicans blocked previous efforts.
“Persistence does pay off. this is a great day for women,” she told a cheering crowd in the foyer of the state Capitol.
Kathryn Wittneben of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado said emergency contraception, also known as Plan B, is not the same as RU 486, a pill regimen with different hormones that terminate a pregnancy.
The Food and Drug Administration last year approved Plan B for over-the-counter, nonprescription use by women 18 and older.
Ritter also signed three higher education bills:
— Allowing public colleges and universities to offer employment contracts longer than five years to encourage research (Senate Bill 48).
— Removing statutory limits on the amount of bonds state colleges and universities can issue to fund research (Senate Bill 54).
— Requiring Colorado State graduate students to buy health insurance to help lower premiums (House Bill 1026).
