JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have forced insurers to cover up to a year’s supply of birth control at a time, a measure supporters said was especially important for providing access to rural areas.
In an email, Dunleavy spokesman Jeff Turner said the Republican governor vetoed the bill because “contraceptives are widely available, and forcing insurers to provide mandatory coverage for a year is bad policy.”
The measure overwhelmingly passed the state legislature this year: 29-11 in the Republican-controlled House and 16-3 in the Senate, which has bipartisan leadership. It was not opposed by the insurance companies, supporters noted.
“Governor Dunleavy’s veto of HB 17, after eight years of tireless efforts, overwhelming community support and positive cooperation with insurance companies, is deeply disappointing,” said Democratic Representative Ashley Carrick, the bill’s sponsor. “There is simply no legitimate reason to veto a bill that would ensure that every person in Alaska, regardless of where they live, has access to essential medicine, such as birth control.”
Supporters of the bill said the veto would keep barriers in place that make it difficult to access birth control pills in large parts of the state, including villages accessible only by air, and for Alaska patients on Medicaid, limiting the supply of birth control pills. pills for a month at a time.
“Those who live outside our urban centers — whether year-round or seasonal — deserve the same access to birth control as those who live near a pharmacy,” Rose O’Hara-Jolley, Alaska state director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, said in a news release.
Supporters also said that improved access to contraception would reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and abortions.