Controlling Contraception in Indiana

 Let me say my first thought when reading Casey Smith's Condoms, IUDs removed from Indiana bill seeking to expand birth control access (Indiana Capital Chronicle) was here was a Republican who was using their common sense.

Republican lawmakers on Tuesday removed condoms and long-acting contraceptives from a proposed Indiana program that seeks to increase access to birth control, instead replacing those options with “fertility awareness based methods” like menstrual cycle tracking — also known as the rhythm method.

The underlying legislation, House Bill 1169, would establish a statewide, taxpayer-funded “Access to Birth Control Program” to expand birth control options for Indiana residents earning at or below 185% of the federal poverty level.

Bill author Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, said his goal is to increase birth control access for low-income Hoosiers, specifically. That roughly half of Indiana births were covered by Medicaid since 2017 “is not only tragic, but unsustainable fiscally,” he said. 

Then came this:

But an amendment offered by Rep. Joanna King, R-Middlebury, changed that birth control list to only include hormonal contraceptive patches and self-administered hormonal contraceptives, defined as a federally-approved hormone drug that a woman has been prescribed to administer to herself. That includes birth control pills, according to the amendment. 

King’s revision additionally changed qualification requirements for the access program to include just Indiana residents who are eligible for Medicaid.  

I guess nobody is too poor to buy a condom or an IUD.

Common sense went running in the opposite direction. The Democrats withdrew support for the bill, however much that matters in our General Assembly, but at least they stood for good sense.

Haley Bougher, the Indiana director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, emphasized that the exclusion of IUDs from the bill “is a slippery slope based on anti-science misinformation, and viewed as an attack on contraceptives” in a state where nearly 25% of counties are maternal care deserts. Indiana, she added, continues to have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country.

“Additionally … fertility awareness should be offered only in conjunction with all other options of contraception to ensure the best outcome possible for all futures,” she said. “This approach does not serve the best interests of Hoosiers, particularly young people who deserve accurate, comprehensive information about their own reproductive health.”

Also in contention was a new provision limiting local health departments. Those participating in the new program could only prescribe and educate Hoosiers on the limited list of birth control options in the bill. Condoms and IUDs would be off limits. 

 

sch 2/12