(Radio Iowa) – House Democrats are planning to push to make contraceptives, like the pill, available without a prescription. Representative Lindsay James, a Democrat from Dubuque, says pharmacists in 20 states are able to provide birth control without a doctor’s prescription. “Pharmacists especially in rural Iowa are an important resource and an important part of this equation,” James says. “They are an access point for care and can help eliminate barriers and expand access to contraception.”

In 2019, Republican Governor Kim Reynolds proposed making the pill available without a prescription, but the bill stalled in the House. This year, G-O-P lawmakers in the House and Senate are considering proposals that would still require prescriptions, but the required appointments with the prescribing doctor would be less frequent. House Democrats are also proposing an amendment to guarantee abortion rights in the Iowa Constitution along with other legislation related to reproductive health care. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights…

“We campaigned on reproductive freedom,” Konfrst says. “It is still a crisis in this state and it’s critically important we address it.” During House debate of a wide ranging bill Republicans are considering, Democratic Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell of Ames intends to ask that Medicaid patients get one year of health coverage after childbirth rather than just 60 days. “What has been discovered is that a lot of women have problems after that 60 day time period,” Wessel-Kroeschell says, “and we have seen some maternal deaths after that time period, which is just simply tragic.”

She’ll also call for restoring Medicaid coverage for family planning and sexually transmitted disease testing at Planned Parenthood. Republican lawmakers ended state and federal funding for those services at Planned Parenthood in 2017. Key Republicans say they stand by the decision to “defund” Planned Parenthood and have no intention of reversing it.