Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird (right) has ended the state’s practice of paying for abortions and emergency contraceptives for rape victims, according to the Des Moines Register.
The state is required to cover the cost of forensic examinations and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases for victims of sexual assault. Although not mandated by state law, Iowa has also previously used its victim compensation fund to cover Plan B and abortions.
“As part of his top-down and bottom-up audit of victim assistance, Attorney General Bird is carefully assessing whether this is an appropriate use of public funds,” said Alyssa Brouillet, Bird’s press secretary, in a statement, according to the Des Moines Register. “Until this review is complete, payment of these pending claims will be delayed.”
Bird ousted longtime Democratic attorney general Tom Miller in the 2022 election, after nearly three decades in office.
The decision to stop Iowa’s coverage of abortions and emergency contraceptives comes as two federal judges ruled almost simultaneously on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of mifepristone on Friday night.
District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas issued a stay that would end the prescription and distribution of the abortifacient drug that has been on the market for more than two decades, while District Judge Thomas Rice in Washington blocked the FDA change the availability of mifepristone.
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