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