Forcing rape victims to pay for emergency medical care

[🦍MAXX＞ⓤ]

In the summer of 2021, a woman seeking an abortion came to the Texas clinic where I worked as a physician. She’d been raped and was 15 weeks pregnant. I was the first medical provider she had seen since being assaulted. She told me she hadn’t gone to the emergency room after her rape because she was uninsured and afraid of racking up a huge medical bill.

It was not the first time I’ve heard such a story.

Immediate medical care after a rape — usually delivered in emergency rooms — is essential to the health and recovery of victims of sexual violence. In many ERs, specially trained nurses perform forensic exams to collect evidence for use in a prosecution if the attacker is ever caught. In most cases, the federal Violence Against Women Act — a law that’s supposed to protect survivors of sexual violence — pays for the forensic exam through state-run victim compensation funds.


www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-forcing-rape-victims-pay-101516565.html

[deyana]

You know that is something that women here in Canada never have to worry about. Going to an emergency room and wondering how much it is going to cost them for the visit and treatment.

I have never thought of it before that is for sure. I do find it surprising that a woman who has been raped would need to pay to get seen to. It all seems so bizarre to me to be honest.

[Deleted]

He should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law also.