The state House unanimously passed legislation Monday to increase the amount of prescription drugs hospitals can supply to sexual assault victims to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

Under current law, hospitals can only provide a 72-hour supply of prescription drugs to any emergency room patient. If enacted, House Bill 1309 would allow hospitals to offer between a seven-day and a 28-day supply of STI-preventing drugs to victims of sexual assault, depending on the type of drug.

The Democrat-sponsored bill received unanimous bipartisan support from the House on Monday, sending the bill to the Senate for further consideration.

“This is just a small fix that brings some bit of dignity to our sex assault survivors as they’re going through the hospital process,” said bill sponsor Rep. Meg Froelich, D-Greenwood Village. “This is in a series of bills that are attempting to bring a series of rights to sex assault survivors.”

Though hospitals can currently provide long-term prescriptions for STI-preventing drugs, the victims must pay the upfront costs and pick up the prescriptions themselves – a process advocates say can be confusing and time-consuming, as well as emotionally difficult.

“The impact upon the assaulted person is traumatizing,” said Barb Cardell with Colorado Organizations Responding to AIDS during a committee meeting. “This bill would give survivors a cushion, a full week to be able to process their emotions, while also ensuring they have access to preventative medications.”

The bill would align with new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Previously, the CDC recommended one-time doses of antibiotics following a sexual assault, but it now suggests a seven-day regimen due to the emergence of an antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhea, according to the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Other bills tackling sexual assault this session include adding the word “consent” to Colorado’s sexual assault law and providing sex workers immunity from arrest when they report violent crimes including sexual assault.

These legislative efforts come as the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault reported that 23.8% of women in Colorado have experienced sexual violence, compared to 18.3% nationally. A sexual assault occurs in the U.S. every 68 seconds, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.