North Dakota legislators are moving to ensure that a woman who is raped is not obliged to foot part of the bill for investigating who assaulted her.

The state House on Wednesday voted 91-0 to approve a bill that prohibits any health care provider, clinic or hospital from charging a sexual assault victim or her insurance company for the cost of a "rape kit," performed to collect evidence of the assault.

The measure includes $500,000 to reimburse medical providers for their expenses in doing the exam, which can cost $450 to $700.

"Victims make agonizing decisions about reporting (sexual assaults) based on many factors. One of these factors should not be how they're going to pay for these very expensive exams," said Rep. Lois Delmore, D-Grand Forks.

The legislation now moves to the Senate, which will decide whether to approve some minor amendments to the bill tacked on by the House.

"In other crimes, we don't ask victims to pay for evidence collection," Delmore said.

- Associated Press