A main tenet of the White House’s “It’s On Us” campaign involves creating a supportive environment for survivors of sexual assault. In Lincoln, one office provides a service many see as instrumental to this effort.
Planned Parenthood offers a slate of options for those who become pregnant as a result of sexual assault, including abortion, adoption and parenting. “Every woman facing an unintended pregnancy is given information about all of her options,” said Angie Remington, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland spokeswoman. “In the case of a sexual assault, if the woman wishes to pursue charges against her attacker, we will put her in touch with law enforcement and support her in any way we can.”
Still, abortions as a result of sexual assault accounted for few of Nebraska’s abortions last year. Out of 2,177 abortions, 10 were related to sexual assault, making up one-half percent of the total, according to the 2013 Nebraska Statistical Report of Abortions.
This is in part related to the way sexual assault and rape is handled at medical centers such as the University Health Center.
“If (a sexual assault victim) walks in here then we get their background, find out when it happened and refer them to someone in the ER to do a rape evaluation kit,” said Terry Thomas, advanced nurse practitioner at the University Health Center. “At that time they would be treated for STDs and asked if they want Plan B.”
The Plan B emergency contraceptive, which is taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex and is widely available at places such as Walgreens and Walmart, is a part of the reason that sexual assault abortions are so low. But even though Thomas said she’s never had a patient pregnant as a result of a sexual assault, there are still things the University Health Center can do if such a case arises.
“If their pregnancy is the result of a sexual assault we would offer them counseling,” Thomas said. “There are resources like gynecologists, planned parenthood if they decide to abort the baby depending on how long they’ve been pregnant and also they can go to a pregnancy crisis center that can talk to them about adoption.”
At Planned Parenthood, medicated abortion is available up to nine weeks into gestation and, in Nebraska, surgical abortion is available up to 16 weeks and 6 days into gestation.
At UNL, Counseling and Psychological Services handles the counseling aspect. Like the medical center, a lot of what they do is treat the immediate problem and then try to find some more substantial and long-term treatment.
“We would of course provide counseling to help the student,” said Charlesette Foster, counselor and outreach coordinator for CAPS. “But we would also be seeking services for the client. If she needed medical care, we would refer her downstairs to our medical clinic. We’d also be looking for services for her if she wanted to pursue legal action against the person.”
As far as the “It’s On Us” campaign goes, the goal of creating a safe environment for sexual assault victims seems to be becoming more of a possibility through the efforts of the University Health Center and Planned Parenthood.
For Planned Parenthood, which has served as an advocate for women’s health care that includes comprehensive sex education, affordable contraception and family planning services, this is just another step to make their cause more aware to the public.
“Conversations about these topics are happening every day for the thousands of Nebraskans who are affected by them.” Remington said. “We work to integrate them into the public sphere so people are not afraid to talk about them and so that real progress can be made to improve these services.”
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