Editor's note: The Associated Press reported Sept. 27 that Roman Catholic bishops had agreed to let hospital personnel give emergency contraception to all rape victims, reversing an earlier decision. The church had fought the state law by arguing it would force Catholic medical personnel to perform chemical abortions because they may be providing emergency contraception to women who are ovulating. The bishops now say that administering the drug, sold as Plan B, cannot be judged as an abortion.

HARTFORD, Conn. — Gov. M. Jodi Rell has signed a bill into law that requires hospitals to offer emergency contraception to rape victims.

The state House approved it 113-36 recently over the objections of the state's Catholic bishops. The law, signed on May 16, would require all 30 hospitals, including Catholic hospitals, to make the drug available. The Senate passed it earlier in the session.

The emergency contraception, known as Plan B, is a concentrated dose of the same drug found in many regular birth-control pills. Taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, a woman can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89%. If a woman is already pregnant, the pills have no effect, according to the drug's manufacturer.

But church leaders say the pills could cause an abortion. Last year, Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell directed the four Catholic hospitals in the state not to prescribe the drug if a rape victim is ovulating or an egg has been fertilized.

In an effort to appease the Catholic Church, the new law allows an independent, third-party health-care provider, such as a rape-crisis nurse, to distribute the drug. That clause satisfied the governor.

The governor's endorsement brought a quick rebuke from Bridgeport Bishop William Lori, who said Catholic hospitals have always provided compassionate care to rape victims and have offered Plan B to prevent ovulation. But it has not been administered to induce an early abortion, a violation of Catholic teachings, Lori said.

"Two fundamental principles are being violated by this law: respect for human life at all stages, and religious freedom," Lori said in a statement. He said the church still hoped lawmakers would pass a second compromise bill that would address Catholics' concerns.