JACKSON – In January, law enforcement officers dropped a woman off at a hospital in North Mississippi after receiving a call that she had been raped and trafficked.
After waiting in the emergency room for hours, she was discharged before receiving treatment or a rape kit. The next day, she tried again, this time going to another hospital 20 miles from the first.
Despite eight more hours in the ER, staff told her no rape kits were available. Instead, they referred her where they refer all sexual assault victims – an out-of-state rape crisis center that happened to be closed that day.
At another hospital, this time 60 miles away, she finally received medication to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, which is standard treatment for sexual assault victims. Still, she never received a rape kit.
“(She) wasn’t even able to complete the first step towards prosecution, which is having an examination to collect evidence,” said District 39 Rep. Dana McLean, R-Columbus, during a Monday press conference at the state Capitol. “… She never had a rape kit performed, and I can’t imagine the trauma that this woman experienced at the hands of her rapist.
“However, it’s apparent to me the additional trauma that she experienced was at the hands of the ER staff who failed to help her,” she added.
The goal of House Bill 928 was to ensure sexual victims could receive treatment and a rape kit in any ER across the state. After reporting an assault, victims typically receive a forensic exam called a rape kit to collect any DNA evidence and record any injuries that could help the victim press charges against their attacker.
The bill would have mandated hospitals to have rape kits and someone qualified to perform them available for victims. It would have also prohibited hospitals from turning victims away.
But on March 3, the bill died in the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee despite unanimously passing in the House.
District 7 Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, who chairs the committee, did not respond to The Dispatch by press time. McLean said she is unsure why the bill failed or who was against it.
Working with the Center for Violence Prevention, McLean on Monday held a press conference at the Capitol alongside victims, advocates, law enforcement officers and legislators who co-authored the bill to make another push for the legislation.
While the bill specifies hospitals must have at least one physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant or registered nurse on duty, District 92 Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, who worked as an ER nurse for 25 years, said most hospitals already have staff on duty who can do the examination.
“It can be easily done. You can help take care of that person,” Currie said during the press conference. “When you send them away, I guarantee you, the first thing they do is take a bath, and all of the evidence we need to prosecute that monster is washed away. … If you’re an open ER and you can take a gunshot wound, how dare you not do a rape kit.”
During the press conference, McLean said she and other legislators are working to have Senate Bill 2211 amended to incorporate the language from the dead house bill. As it is currently written, the bill would amend state code to require law enforcement agencies to notify victims about changes with their rape kits.
“The only way we can prosecute rape cases is if we have evidence, and the first step is having rape kit evidence,” McLean said. “… It takes a lot of courage for rape victims to come forward to begin with because so few rape cases are actually prosecuted. It’s hard to convict an offender, and if we can’t even get a rape kit done, it ends right there.”
Midwife certification bill dies in committee
Another bill authored by McLean, House Bill 927, that would have established midwifery as a regulated, licensed practice also died in the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee last week.
Currently, the state only recognizes certified nurse midwives, while direct entry midwives, who practice without formal medical training, are not regulated by the state. If the bill had passed, the legislature would have established minimum standards for Mississippi midwives and a formal licensing process.
McLean said she is looking to amend another bill to add the language for midwife certification.
“This was the first year that it actually passed through the House committee and passed on the floor,” she said. “Sometimes that’s what happens with bills. It may take a couple of sessions to get something all the way through both chambers, but we do intend to keep working on it.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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