BILLS AIM TO STOP SPREAD OF DISEASE

BOSTON -- Proposed laws to allow women to receive emergency contraception
without prescriptions and drug users to buy new hypodermic needles
guaranteed to be free of diseases are gaining steam on Beacon Hill.

The Legislature's joint Public Health Committee likely will endorse the
hot-button bills on Wednesday and send them to the full Legislature for
consideration, said committee Senate chairwoman Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln.

"At both hearings on these (earlier this spring), the testimony was 99
percent positive, and I think people recognize these are public health
issues," Fargo said.

The hypodermic needle legislation would decriminalize their possession and
allow drug stores to sell them from behind the counter.

State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, House chairman of the Public Health
Committee, said if a bill emerges from the committee it may call for store
employees to pass along material about drug treatment with the needles.
Koutoujian said it's time for Massachusetts to remove the barriers to
buying clean needles, as 47 other states have done, to help stop the spread
of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C among drug users.

"In every place that disseminated needles, they found that there was a
reduction in these diseases, and they found absolutely no increase in the
level of crime surrounding this," Koutoujian said.

The measure also would help diabetics who must have prescriptions to buy
needles now, he said.

According to the state Department of Public Health, 39 percent of people
with HIV/AIDS in the state contracted the disease from a needle, and 70
percent of the state's Hepatitis C cases are tied to drug use.

While DPH acting Commissioner Paul Cote has expressed his support for the
measure, Gov. Mitt Romney opposes it, said his spokeswoman Laura Nicoll.

"The governor and Lt. Gov. (Kerry) Healey do not want to do anything that
facilitates illegal drug use," she said.

Similar legislation was approved by the former Health Care Committee last
year, but did not make it out of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley testified in favor of the needle
legislation in May, saying she abandoned her previous concerns after
hearing other states had successes with similar laws.

"The current prohibition isn't solving any problems but at least reducing
the spread of disease by providing clean needles is a plus," said state
Sen. Richard Moore, D-Uxbridge, who co-sponsored two of three proposed
needle bills.

The Public Health Committee also is nearing a vote on legislation to allow
pharmacies that receive special training to provide emergency contraception
without a prescription. The bills under consideration also would require
hospitals to make the so-called morning-after pill available to rape victims.

The pill in question prevents a woman from becoming pregnant and may be
effective for up to five days after unprotected sex. It is essentially a
high dosage of hormones that can prevent ovulation, fertilization and
implantation.

Emergency contraception is not abortion and does not end an existing
pregnancy, said state Sen. Pamela Resor, D-Acton, primary sponsor of one of
two emergency contraception bills.

"It truly is not," she said. "It is pre-pregnancy. It is more of a birth
control piece."

The bill would reduce the number of abortions performed in the state, Fargo
said.

The Massachusetts Catholic Conference opposes the emergency contraception
measure, saying the pill in question could cause abortion. Representatives
from the conference could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The Senate approved a similar bill last year, though the matter was not
taken up in the House. Former Speaker Thomas Finneran at the time said the
House was too busy with other matters. Supporters said they are hopeful new
Speaker Salvatore DiMasi will be more receptive than the socially
conservative Finneran.

Romney spokeswoman Nicoll said the administration will wait to comment on
the emergency contraception matter to see if and what legislation emerges
from the Legislature.