A Texas congressman has introduced legislation to provide support to sexual assault victims named in honor of Megan Rondini, a former student at The University of Alabama who died by suicide after she was allegedly raped by a member of a prominent family in Tuscaloosa.

U.S. Representative Ted Poe (R-Texas) introduced H.R. 3145, named the Megan Rondini Act, a bill inspired by Rondini’s story. Poe is the sponsor of the bill, joined by 40 co-sponsors made up of 19 Democrats and 21 Republicans.

Poe first learned about Rondini from an article published by BuzzFeed News that detailed Rondini’s experience from her alleged rape by Terry Bunn Jr., the son of a wealthy family in Tuscaloosa, in July 2015 to her suicide in February 2016.

The bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require hospitals to have a SAFE, or Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week or to have a plan in place to ensure that a victim will be transported to another nearby hospital with a SAFE readily available.

Poe said he believes Rondini’s death was because the criminal justice system “broke down and failed her.”

“Once I learned of the story, I thought that there was a lot that we should be doing on the national level but immediately the biggest concern was making sure that when a student at any university in the country is sexually assaulted, that they have immediate access to a qualified examiner or sexual assault nurse examiner,” Poe said. “It’s named in her honor because when she felt like she was hopeless, she felt like she was failed by everybody in the system and that’s why she committed suicide. It’s a sad case, so that’s why we’re naming it in her honor. We want to fix this in the future for other sexual assault victims.”

Poe also serves as co-founder and chairman of the Bipartisan Congressional Victims Rights Caucus, founded in 2005 along with Congressman Jim Costa (D-Calif.) to advocate for victims’ rights in Congress.

Poe’s experience as a criminal court judge for 22 years has taught him the importance of having proper procedures in place to administer sexual assault kits to gather evidence.

“It’s very important for victims to have this available to them everywhere but especially on our university campuses because the Justice Department says one out of five students at our universities across the country will be sexually assaulted while they are in school,” Poe said. “That’s a very high number to me. It’s a very important tool that hospitals can make part of their protocol.”

This bill was originally introduced on July 27 of 2017 and is currently still pending approval.

Chris Bryant, assistant director of media relations for the University, said in an email that while the University is in favor of appropriate legislation to assist individuals affected by sexual assault, the University’s focus is on “eliminating sexual misconduct within the campus community and, in the event it does occur, providing support to the victims and holding perpetrators accountable.”

The University has established services and support programs designed to address issues related to sexual misconduct, such as the UAct program, which provides a central location for information about reporting sexual misconduct and other issues. The Women and Gender Resource Center also has a victim advocate on call 24 hours a day, including weekends and holidays, for crisis intervention and support. The UA Counseling Center also has counselors available to provide one-on-one counseling to students affected by sexual misconduct and sexual assault.

In addition to these on-campus efforts, the University has committed $250,000 to the Tuscaloosa SAFE Center Inc. to provide facilities and services to aid and support victims of sexual assault.

Pamela Jones, executive director of the Tuscaloosa SAFE Center said that the center, which provides a sexual assault nurse examiner, is capable of administering sexual assault forensic examinations in a “compassionate, patient-centered environment.”

“Using state-of-the-art equipment and trained/certified nursing staff, the SAFE Center can provide accurate and reliable forensic exams to give sexual assault survivors options they may want in the future,” Jones said in an email. “It is a place for them to come and begin the healing journey.”

In February, the University was dismissed from a wrongful death lawsuit from the Rondini family after committing $400,000 toward funding facilities and services that combat sexual assault. The University also posthumously awarded Rondini a magna cum laude B.S. degree with an accompanying certificate from the University’s Honors College in May.

For more information on the University’s services and support programs to address sexual misconduct, visit https://www.ua.edu/campuslife/safety/sams.