Kim Reynolds' plan to expand birth control access failed again. She says she'll keep trying

In a year when Gov. Kim Reynolds saw most of her legislative agenda approved without difficulty, there was one prominent exception.

The Iowa Legislature adjourned, yet again, without passing Reynolds' plan to expand birth control access — something she first began talking about on the campaign trail in 2018.

Reynolds, a Republican, said, "I'm not going to give up on it." She said she'll continue trying to build support for the program before lawmakers return to the Iowa Capitol in January.

"I think it’s important," she said. "We’ll continue to work with the Legislature. I’ll work over the interim, and you’ll probably see it again next year as part of my program."

Federal officials may weigh in before Iowa lawmakers have another chance to take action. On Wednesday, a panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended the agency allow the birth control drug Opill to be sold over the counter for the first time.

A final FDA decision could come later this summer.

More: FDA panel recommends allowing birth control pill to be sold over the counter

Iowa Republicans split on birth control debate

The birth control issue has divided Republicans over the years. Supporters say expanding access is an important tool for reducing abortions, but several faith-based anti-abortion groups oppose the idea.

Reynolds' plan would have allowed Iowans 18 and older to get birth control, including pills, birth control patches and vaginal rings, from a pharmacist without first seeing a doctor.

It would have required pharmacists to screen patients and keep a record of which patients receive birth control. And it would have allowed pharmacists to dispense an initial three-month supply of birth control, and a 12-month supply after that.

Patients would have been required to see a physician within 27 months after a pharmacist dispensed the birth control.

The Senate passed a simpler bill expanding birth control without many of the requirements in Reynolds' proposal, but House lawmakers never brought either bill to a vote as Republicans negotiated among themselves about what they could support.

More: Kim Reynolds proposed a far-reaching agenda for Iowa. She got nearly everything she wanted

Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, said if Reynolds really wanted the birth control legislation she would have gotten it.

"Clearly it must not have been a high priority of the governor’s because I saw none of her team up here pushing to get that done for Iowa families, which is really unfortunate," Petersen said.

Republican lawmakers getting 'more comfortable' with birth control proposal, leader says

House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said on a May 5 episode of "Iowa Press" on Iowa PBS that even though Reynolds' proposal has been around for several years, this year was the first time that the 24 new Republican members of the Iowa House had encountered it.

"We've had members that have moved from solid noes that are getting more comfortable as we're working through modifying the language," Grassley said. "And I'm sure it will be something we continue to talk about."

Grassley said some House Republicans want to make sure the bill still ensures women are seeing their doctor regularly.

"We don't want to make it so it's so accessible that you also ignore your other health care and lead to other situations where we're missing pieces within those yearly and routine checkups," Grassley said.

More: Which bills passed — and which didn't — in the 2023 Iowa Legislature. Here's the rundown:

Rep. Devon Wood, R-New Market, was the bill's floor manager in the House. She said she plans to continue talking to her colleagues before next year's session to find language Republicans can agree on.

"Can it be frustrating to slow down something that you’re very passionate about? Yes," she said. "But I’m not disappointed in the slightest getting the opportunity to continue working on it. It’s not dead. It’s still alive and well for next session."

Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, said Senate Republicans have already shown they support the idea.

"The Senate has now passed that twice, I believe," Whitver said. "And so it’s something that obviously we support. And there's always next year to continue to work on that."

Reynolds' proposals on paid parental leave, fatherhood also failed to pass

Reynolds packaged her birth control expansion as part of a "maternal health" bill with several other policies she said would support mothers and families.

Lawmakers failed to pass several of the ideas in that bill, including four weeks of paid parental leave for state employees who have children.

The Legislature also did not give Reynolds as much money as she requested for Iowa's "More Options for Maternal Support" program, which provides grants to pregnancy resource centers that provide classes and physical items like diapers to new moms and counsel against abortion.

More: Dissecting Iowa's $8.5 billion state budget. Here's what got funded and what got cut.

While Reynolds asked for $2 million in total funding, lawmakers allocated only $500,000 in new money, bringing the total to $1 million spent, including money budgeted last year when the program was created.

One of the pieces that got cut was what Reynolds called "a fatherhood initiative" that would have targeted men who are part of unexpected pregnancies. Her bill would have allowed grants to go to nonprofits that offer parenting classes and programs to help fathers find jobs or manage child support payments.

Petersen said she's disappointed Republicans didn't consider other ideas, such as extending Medicaid coverage for new mothers for one year postpartum. More than 40 states offer a year of coverage or are seeking approval to do so, while Iowa offers 60 days for new mothers — the minimum required by federal law.

"Iowa is facing a maternal health crisis and nothing that she proposed this year would have helped significantly," Petersen said of the governor. "It has been a horrible year for young moms and young families in Iowa."

Petersen said Republicans also made things worse for families with legislation like a bill that requires parents to work at least 32 hours a week to be eligible for child care assistance payments from the state. That's up from 28 hours under current law.

"If your boss potentially doesn’t give you a shift at work, you could lose child care support for all of your kids," Petersen said. "It penalizes not only young families, but it penalizes our child care providers too, because the state would cut off their pay as well."

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds say she'll try again on birth control expansion