Iowa Won't Cover Emergency Contraception for Sexual Assault Victims
Another step back for women's health.
Brenna Bird, Iowa’s Republican Attorney General, has caused yet another major blow to women’s healthcare by pausing a provision that allowed victims of sexual assault and rape access to emergency contraception, including Plan B and abortion care. Naturally, this has sparked not only an uproar, but justified concern among women’s rights advocates in Iowa and across the country as the impact on sexual assault survivors would be catastrophic.
Though not explicitly stated, the provision allowed the state to pay for emergency contraception for sexual assault victims, no prescription needed. According to Iowa’s Victim Assistance annual report, victims are “never responsible for a sexual abuse forensic examination or for medications required due to the assault.”
This devastating suspension means that survivors are either left unable to access the much-needed care or having to pay out of pocket for these services that were once paid for by the state. This places the onus on the victim to deal with the aftermath of their assault. As one can imagine, such a thing can have dire consequences for women’s health and reproductive freedom across the entire country.
AG Bird is reviewing whether the victim compensation fund is an “appropriate use of public funds,” according to Bird’s Press Secretary Alyssa Brouillet. It is important to note that these funds are made up of penalties and fines paid by convicted criminals, not taxpayer money.
Critics of this suspension argue that this is a clear attack on women’s reproductive rights and will have long-lasting and devastating effects on survivors of sexual assault. Emergency contraception is time sensitive and any delay in access can significantly reduce its effectiveness. Sexual assault survivors not only have to deal with the emotional distress and trauma, but the burden of seeking care and navigating the healthcare system to obtain proper prescriptions can prove overwhelming.
This news may not come as a shock to some given Iowa’s troubling history pertaining to women’s reproductive rights. In 2018, well before Roe v. Wade was overturned, Iowa passed one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country; banning the procedure after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is often before a woman even realizes she’s pregnant. In 2019 a judge issued an injunction on the law and in December 2022 a different judge upheld that injunction after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
There’s a long line of attacks on women’s reproductive rights not only in Iowa but in other conservative states. This suspension is just the latest. Just about every week, you can read online or watch on the news the many states that are passing more and more laws restricting access to abortion and other reproductive healthcare services under the guise of protecting women’s health and/or the sanctity of life. But these deplorable laws always have the opposite effect, putting women’s lives at risk.
Laws and suspensions, such as Iowa’s, are just a constant reminder of the current war on women’s health and their right to make the choice in what they decide to do with their bodies. It is disgusting to force survivors of sexual assault to carry a pregnancy or to seek unsafe, illegal abortions, and without access to emergency contraception, this may be a reality for many.
The impact of this decision could potentially create a domino effect as other conservative states will see this as an opportunity to follow Iowa’s lead. Since the announcement, there has been a call to action to protect not only reproductive rights but also healthcare access. We are calling on the Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act which “establishes a statutory right for health care professionals to provide abortion care and the right for their patients to receive care, free from bans and medically unnecessary restrictions that single out abortion care,” as outlined by the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Iowa’s suspension of emergency contraception is a deeply concerning development for women’s rights and reproductive autonomy across the nation. It is up to us to advocate for those in need and push lawmakers to take action to protect vital healthcare services. We need to ensure that survivors have the support they need to recover and heal. Abortion care is healthcare, and one cannot exist without the other.
Take action to support the Women’s Health Protection Act
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