Iowa's largest county is offering free emergency contraceptive pills
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Emergency contraception tablets are now available at the Polk County Health Department (PCHD) for free and without question.
Why it matters: Iowa enacted one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation last month.
- Some health providers and advocates are boosting other options in its wake.
State of play: PCHD's new program provides recipients with a levonorgestrel tablet, similar to Plan B, which is used to prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.
- They are freely available in PCHD's clinic bathrooms, along with condoms and lube.
Between the lines: Plan B One-Step typically costs between $40–$50, while generic versions range from $11 to $45, per Planned Parenthood's website.
Zoom in: The contraception is being provided indefinitely to the county for free by the Family Planning Council of Iowa, a group that's been working to increase access to birth control for months in light of Iowa's evolving abortion restrictions.
- PCHD learned about this option in June, and its recent launch was not coordinated with the start of Iowa's new abortion ban, PCHD spokesperson Addie Olson tells Axios.
The big picture: In the wake of the new ban, multiple local abortion rights groups have shifted their efforts to helping Iowa women obtain abortion services elsewhere.
- Iowa Abortion Access Fund has partnered with Chicago Abortion Fund and saw more than 60 requests for support in the first three weeks of July — before Iowa's law was enacted, Lyz Lenz, the board's co-chairperson tells Axios.
- Planned Parenthood has increased abortion capabilities in Nebraska and Minnesota, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports.
Threat level: As more states restrict abortions, more women are undergoing self-managed care for them, according to a new study from the research group Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco.
What we're watching: Iowa's law does not explicitly block residents from obtaining abortion pills through the mail.
What's next: While abortion pill access recently saw a win at the U.S. Supreme Court, the ruling left the door open for future challenges, with multiple Republican-led states expected to revive the push, Axios' April Rubin reports.
