The purpose of this informational bulletin is to notify all hospitals that the 2007 Minnesota Legislature passed a law relating to a minimum standard of care for all hospitals that provide emergency care to female sexual assault victims. In statute 145.471, the Department of Health was directed to distribute to all hospitals information that is medically and factually accurate and unbiased about emergency contraception from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to be given to each female sexual assault victim seen in emergency care.

To view the definition of emergency contraception, several regimens of different formulations that can be used for emergency contraception, and a list of frequently asked questions for emergency contraception, please go to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists website.

To download a PDF of this page that may be given to a sexual assault victim go to:
Information required by emergency care to sexual assault victims act (PDF)

Statute 145.4711 also contained other minimum standard of care requirements for sexual assault victims, both male and female, relating to emergency contraception as well as prophylactic antibiotics for treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. [Review the entire statute]

CDC's STD Treatment Guidelines (Page 80 and following) provides information about prophylactic antibiotics to help prevent sexually transmitted infections.

The Minnesota Hospital Association has created the following document based on clinical information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an option for meeting this provision:
Preventing infection after sexual assault (PDF)

Should you have any further questions related to this topic, please contact:

Minnesota Department of Health
625 Robert Street North
St. Paul, Minnesota 55164
651-201-5809