A popular bill to make it easier for Alaskans to access prescription birth control won’t become law after Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed it this week, marking the latest in what backers of the law say are the Republicans’ efforts to undermine women’s health care.
House Bill 17, backed by a bipartisan coalition of legislators in the House and Senate, would have required insurance providers to cover a year’s supply of prescription birth control at a time. Under the current law, most insurance providers only cover 90 days of birth control, a length that advocates say is particularly difficult for women living in remote and rural parts of Alaska and can contribute to abuse.
In a letter, the governor claimed that mandating insurance companies to provide such care “is bad policy” but didn’t elaborate on what made it “bad.”
During the legislative session, the opposition to House Bill 17 almost entirely came from conservative Republican men, who frequently wrongly likened birth control to abortion-inducing abortifacients, which are not mentioned anywhere in the legislation.
The governor has a history of opposing abortion — he vetoed funding for the Alaska Court System for overturning an anti-abortion law he supported — and has employed several men with disturbing views and behavior toward women. His first two attorneys general resigned in disgrace, and his pro-family advisor resigned last year after a podcast where he said “divorce is worse than rape,” among other misogynistic views, resurfaced.
House Bill 17 was sponsored by Fairbanks Democratic Rep. Ashley Carrick and passed out of the Legislature this year with bipartisan support, clearing the Senate 16-3 and the House 26-13. Several moderate Republicans backed the bill, arguing it was legislation that would help women have a better say over their health and avoid unwanted pregnancies and abortions, which are protected under Alaska’s constitutional right to privacy.
“Governor Dunleavy’s veto of HB 17, after eight years of tireless effort, overwhelming community support, and positive collaboration with the insurance companies, is deeply disappointing,” she said in a prepared statement.
Many legislators were inspired by several rounds of public testimony over the years from women who relayed personal experiences of having trouble getting adequate supplies of birth control pills. Some noted that having stable and reliable access to birth control is particularly important for women suffering in abusive relationships, with several women relaying stories about abusive men controlling birth control as a means of control.
“There is simply no justifiable reason to veto a bill that would ensure every person in Alaska, no matter where they live, has access to essential medication, like birth control,” Carrick said in a prepared statement. “This veto is among a number of clear examples of how Governor Dunleavy continues to prioritize politics and power over the well-being of our communities, denying Alaskans the right to make the best medical decisions for themselves in consultation with their doctor. Ultimately, HB 17 directly serves policies that support protecting families, a cause Dunleavy claims to care about. HB 17 would have made great strides to reduce abortion rates, prevent unintended pregnancies, and allow women in our communities to have autonomy and freedom in their health care decisions.”
This is the second bill authored by Carrick that the governor has vetoed. Last year, he killed legislation that would have created more precise definitions to settle legal ambiguity around e-bikes.
The bill’s passage margin is high enough that if all legislators stuck with their votes, they could override the veto. However, legislators failed to override the governor’s veto of a broadly popular school funding bill after several Republicans turned on the bill and sided with the governor.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.
