Unfortunately, it let that chance go by. Even worse, it may have removed information about emergency contraception from the original protocol, which now includes only a single sentence on pregnancy prevention and does not mention emergency contraception or recommend that it be offered.

That omission is unconscionable, given the statistic found by Princeton University and University of California researchers that such emergency care could prevent up to 22,000 pregnancies resulting from rape each year. It appears prompted by the same anti-abortion political agenda that has indefinitely delayed Food and Drug Administration approval for non-prescription sales of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, or the "morning-after pill," to women over 16.

A group of religious leaders, women's health experts and advocates for victims of sexual assault is asking the U.S. Justice Department for records that might explain how references to emergency contraception or pregnancy prevention disappeared from the protocol. They want rape victims to have that information, and so do we.

The protocol, to be used by doctors and other health-care providers, should be revised to include the recommendation, apparently eliminated from the current version, that "treatment providers discuss treatment options with patients and provide them with immediate access to a full range of reproductive health-care services."

To do otherwise would be negligent, since, as the protocol states, pregnancy is "often an overwhelming and genuine fear" of rape victims, and doctors have the ability to allay those fears and reduce the possibility of unwanted pregnancy. Emergency contraception can reduce the chances of pregnancy by as much as 89 percent if it is administered within days of the rape.

Offering that option is the compassionate thing to do for victims of one of the most physically invasive and emotionally traumatic crimes.

The groups that filed for more information from the Justice Department want to pressure the agency to include the information in revised versions of the protocol and to make it a part of the training provided to health-care providers. The Justice Department should listen to their arguments and revise the protocol.