Johnson County officials may follow Polk County’s lead in providing funding for emergency contraception and crisis services for victims of sexual assault and rape after the Iowa Attorney General’s Office halted — at least for now — covering those expenses.
The Polk County Board of Supervisors last week voted unanimously to direct Polk County Crisis and Advocacy Services to pay for the services previously funded by the state office.
Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmerman Smith is looking into the feasibility and potential hang-ups should the county follow suit, after two county supervisors inquired about the Polk County initiative.
“Once we hear back from her and once there’s enough will on the board, and I think there will be, we’ll have a discussion about that,” Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan said. While no formal proposal has been made, Sullivan said it is his intention to vote to provide the funding.
“I think this is just horrific,” Sullivan said of victims of rape potentially being denied timely access to contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy and abortion care resulting from a crime. Cost, he said, should never be a barrier for rape victims seeking medical care.
“I think it’s unconscionable the attorney general has stopped providing” payment for the medications, Sullivan said. “What should be happening is the attorney general should be continuing to support these victims.”
Linn County officials have not said if they’re also considering funding.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird paused the funding as part of an audit of the victim services administered through her office. Bird announced the audit upon taking office in January.
However, it was until early April that sexual assault response teams and other victim advocacy organizations first learned of the policy change after the Iowa Attorney General's Office confirmed it to the media, according to interviews and emails obtained by The Gazette under a public records request.
“As a part of her top-down, bottom-up audit of victim assistance, Attorney General Bird is carefully evaluating whether this is an appropriate use of public funds,” Bird’s office said in a statement issued April 5. “Until that review is complete, payment of these pending claims will be delayed.”
Sexual assault nurse examiners, hospitals and victim advocates say they have not received word on the timeline of the ongoing review. A spokeswoman for Bird told The Gazette late last month that a decision is expected soon.
Bird said during an appearance last month on “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS that policy decisions made as a result of that audit, including whether to stop state funding for emergency contraception and abortions for rape victims, will be permanent and will no require legislative action.
“We are working on that audit and what the outcome of that will be. But you’re right, we did pause payments to entities like Planned Parenthood and others that were being reimbursed for abortions and for Plan B,” Bird said. “However, those services still remain available under Iowa law to victims. It’s just whether public funds will pay for them.”
Sexual assault nurse examiners who spoke to The Gazette say hospitals and pharmacies are continuing to dispense medications to victims who request them, and continue to submit invoices to the Attorney General’s Office seeking reimbursement. Patients are not being billed at this point.
As of April, 67 reimbursement claims for emergency contraception for sexual assault survivors totaling about $2,600 had yet to be reimbursed since Bird took office in January. The office also put on hold one claim for an abortion from a rape victim, which cost about $730, according to records from the Attorney General’s Office obtained by Iowa Public Radio.
The Attorney General’s Office did not respond to multiple request for an updated figure as of Friday. The office has also not disclosed how much it previously spent on emergency contraceptives and abortions.
In one claim submitted by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to the Attorney General's Office in late March obtained by The Gazette, the cost for the emergency contraceptive pill Ulipristal — sold under the brand name Ella — is $77.50.
At retail pharmacies, the typical cost for one dose of Plan B, a type of morning-after pill commonly be used after unprotected sex, is $50.
For now, the UI is temporarily holding claims while it awaits the outcome of the attorney general’s review.
"University of Iowa Health Care is committed to supporting the health care needs of sexual assault victims," according to a statement from the Iowa City-based health system. "We are currently preparing for any potential operational changes that may be necessary in the event the Iowa Attorney General’s Office stops payment of emergency contraception for sexual assault victims."
Though the payments are not explicitly required by law, it has been the state’s longtime policy to cover the cost of emergency contraception from the victim compensation fund. In rare cases, the fund also has paid for abortions for rape victims, Sandi Tibbetts Murphy, director of the victim assistance division under previous attorney general, Democrat Tom Miller, previously said.
Bird, a Republican, defeated Miller in the 2022 November election.
The scope of the audit by the Attorney General’s Office remains unclear. Bird has not publicly said why she has opted to pause reimbursement for those services, and her office has not identified particular concerns.
Bird has been a vocal opponent to abortion, and represented Gov. Kim Reynolds in her failed effort to get the Iowa Supreme Court to lift a lower court’s block on abortion restrictions passed in 2018. Iowa Republican lawmakers subsequently passed and Reynolds signed into law a new abortion ban that’s been temporary halted pending the outcome of a legal challenge.
The Iowa Attorney General also joined other Republican-led states in a brief supporting a Texas judge's ruling that put a hold on government approval of mifepristone, a commonly used abortion pill.
Iowa law requires the state to pay for many of the expenses facing assault survivors who seek medical help, including the cost of forensic examinations to collect evidence and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. That is funded through the state's victim compensation fund, which comes from fines, fees and penalties paid by criminals. No taxpayer dollars go into the fund.
The decision to pause payments has caused anxiety and confusion for Iowa sexual assault nurses, response teams, victim advocates, hospitals and pharmacies, according to interviews and emails obtained by The Gazette.
www.thegazette.com
The Polk County Board of Supervisors last week voted unanimously to direct Polk County Crisis and Advocacy Services to pay for the services previously funded by the state office.
Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmerman Smith is looking into the feasibility and potential hang-ups should the county follow suit, after two county supervisors inquired about the Polk County initiative.
“Once we hear back from her and once there’s enough will on the board, and I think there will be, we’ll have a discussion about that,” Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan said. While no formal proposal has been made, Sullivan said it is his intention to vote to provide the funding.
“I think this is just horrific,” Sullivan said of victims of rape potentially being denied timely access to contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy and abortion care resulting from a crime. Cost, he said, should never be a barrier for rape victims seeking medical care.
“I think it’s unconscionable the attorney general has stopped providing” payment for the medications, Sullivan said. “What should be happening is the attorney general should be continuing to support these victims.”
Linn County officials have not said if they’re also considering funding.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird paused the funding as part of an audit of the victim services administered through her office. Bird announced the audit upon taking office in January.
However, it was until early April that sexual assault response teams and other victim advocacy organizations first learned of the policy change after the Iowa Attorney General's Office confirmed it to the media, according to interviews and emails obtained by The Gazette under a public records request.
“As a part of her top-down, bottom-up audit of victim assistance, Attorney General Bird is carefully evaluating whether this is an appropriate use of public funds,” Bird’s office said in a statement issued April 5. “Until that review is complete, payment of these pending claims will be delayed.”
Sexual assault nurse examiners, hospitals and victim advocates say they have not received word on the timeline of the ongoing review. A spokeswoman for Bird told The Gazette late last month that a decision is expected soon.
Bird said during an appearance last month on “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS that policy decisions made as a result of that audit, including whether to stop state funding for emergency contraception and abortions for rape victims, will be permanent and will no require legislative action.
“We are working on that audit and what the outcome of that will be. But you’re right, we did pause payments to entities like Planned Parenthood and others that were being reimbursed for abortions and for Plan B,” Bird said. “However, those services still remain available under Iowa law to victims. It’s just whether public funds will pay for them.”
Are patients getting billed?
Sexual assault nurse examiners who spoke to The Gazette say hospitals and pharmacies are continuing to dispense medications to victims who request them, and continue to submit invoices to the Attorney General’s Office seeking reimbursement. Patients are not being billed at this point.
As of April, 67 reimbursement claims for emergency contraception for sexual assault survivors totaling about $2,600 had yet to be reimbursed since Bird took office in January. The office also put on hold one claim for an abortion from a rape victim, which cost about $730, according to records from the Attorney General’s Office obtained by Iowa Public Radio.
The Attorney General’s Office did not respond to multiple request for an updated figure as of Friday. The office has also not disclosed how much it previously spent on emergency contraceptives and abortions.
In one claim submitted by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to the Attorney General's Office in late March obtained by The Gazette, the cost for the emergency contraceptive pill Ulipristal — sold under the brand name Ella — is $77.50.
At retail pharmacies, the typical cost for one dose of Plan B, a type of morning-after pill commonly be used after unprotected sex, is $50.
For now, the UI is temporarily holding claims while it awaits the outcome of the attorney general’s review.
"University of Iowa Health Care is committed to supporting the health care needs of sexual assault victims," according to a statement from the Iowa City-based health system. "We are currently preparing for any potential operational changes that may be necessary in the event the Iowa Attorney General’s Office stops payment of emergency contraception for sexual assault victims."
Though the payments are not explicitly required by law, it has been the state’s longtime policy to cover the cost of emergency contraception from the victim compensation fund. In rare cases, the fund also has paid for abortions for rape victims, Sandi Tibbetts Murphy, director of the victim assistance division under previous attorney general, Democrat Tom Miller, previously said.
Bird, a Republican, defeated Miller in the 2022 November election.
Why has the AG paused payments?
The scope of the audit by the Attorney General’s Office remains unclear. Bird has not publicly said why she has opted to pause reimbursement for those services, and her office has not identified particular concerns.
Bird has been a vocal opponent to abortion, and represented Gov. Kim Reynolds in her failed effort to get the Iowa Supreme Court to lift a lower court’s block on abortion restrictions passed in 2018. Iowa Republican lawmakers subsequently passed and Reynolds signed into law a new abortion ban that’s been temporary halted pending the outcome of a legal challenge.
The Iowa Attorney General also joined other Republican-led states in a brief supporting a Texas judge's ruling that put a hold on government approval of mifepristone, a commonly used abortion pill.
Iowa law requires the state to pay for many of the expenses facing assault survivors who seek medical help, including the cost of forensic examinations to collect evidence and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. That is funded through the state's victim compensation fund, which comes from fines, fees and penalties paid by criminals. No taxpayer dollars go into the fund.
The decision to pause payments has caused anxiety and confusion for Iowa sexual assault nurses, response teams, victim advocates, hospitals and pharmacies, according to interviews and emails obtained by The Gazette.
Johnson County considers paying for rape victims’ medication
Johnson County officials may follow Polk County’s lead in providing funding for emergency contraception and crisis services for victims of sexual assault and rape after the Iowa Attorney General’s Office halted - at least for now -- covering those expenses.
www.thegazette.com
