As Iowa adjusts to one of the most draconian abortion bans in the country, the Polk County Public Health Department is working to make sure people have access to emergency contraception.
“We have FREE emergency contraceptive (aka Plan B/morning after pill) located in the bathrooms here at the Health Department – 1907 Carpenter Ave in DSM,” the department said in a social media post.
The Plan B is in a self-serve container, alongside other self-serve containers with condoms, lube, bleach kits and sharps containers. No forms need to be filled out, and no questions will be asked of anyone who picks up any of these items.
The emergency contraception dispensers were added in July, after the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the state’s new law making almost all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy illegal. But Public Health Communications Officer Addie Olsson told Axios Des Moines the department’s decision to add emergency contraception to the items it provides for free was not done in response to the abortion ban. The idea came in June before the court ruling at the end of that month, because Polk County Public Health learned it could get Plan B for free from the Family Planning Council of Iowa (FPCI).
FPCI, which aims “to provide quality reproductive health care and family planning services to all people in Iowa, regardless of identity or ability to pay,” includes Plan B in the free reproductive health kits it distributes.
“Reproductive Health Kits include two doses of emergency contraception (EC, or the morning-after pill), condoms, lube, and a reproductive health guide to help Iowans navigate sexual and reproductive health decisions,” the West Des Moines-based nonprofit said in a news release when it launched the initiative in June 2023.
“This program is especially important in the wake of Attorney General Brenna Bird’s pause on payment for [emergency contraception] for sexual assault victims,” the news release explained.
In April 2023, Iowa Public Radio reported that Bird was no longer allowing the state’s Sexual Abuse Examination Payment Program to cover the cost of emergency contraception, and in some cases abortion services, for survivors of sexual assault. Covering the cost of such necessary medical care had been a standard part of the program under Bird’s predecessor Tom Miller, who served as Iowa Attorney General for almost four decades. The Sexual Abuse Examination Payment Program does not rely on tax dollars, but instead is paid for by the Attorney General’s Victim Compensation Fund, which is funded by criminal and civil fines collected by the office.
Bird did not inform the public she had suspended the payments for emergency contraception soon after taking office in January 2023. Responding to IPR, Bird’s office issued a written statement saying she stopped the payments because she was “carefully evaluating whether this is an appropriate use of public funds.” According to the AG’s Office, Bird had launched a “full audit of victim services” to determine if there were any problems in the programs.
The audit didn’t discover any problems – and no one had expected it to – so in May of this year, Bird announced the Sexual Abuse Examination Payment Program would resume paying for emergency contraception, but would no longer pay for abortion care in cases where a doctor determined it was necessary. During the 16 months payments had been suspended, approximately 400 requests for payment went unpaid.
FPIC mails its free reproductive health kits to Iowa residents who request one through its site. The kits typically arrive two weeks after being requested. The kits can also be picked up at Planned Parenthood locations in Iowa City, Des Moines and Sioux City, as well as nine other health centers around the state.
- Community Health Care – Edgerton Clinic in Davenport
- Crescent Community Health Center in Dubuque
- Great River Family Planning of Southeast Iowa in Burlington
- Primary Health Care in Ames and Marshalltown
- Siouxland Community Health Center in Sioux City
- Trinity Muscatine Public Health in Muscatine
- Women’s Health & Family Services in Clinton and Maquoketa
According to FPCI’s site, since the program began, it has mailed out 394 kits, distributed 589 at conferences and other events, and donated 3,827 to schools, clinics and community organizations.
