Idaho Expands Access to Birth Control, but That’s Not a Remedy for Its Abortion Ban
Insurers are now required to cover six months of birth control pills at a time. It's an important win, but the landscape for reproductive health in the state remains bleak.
Photo: Getty Images AbortionPolitics
Idaho started in the new year with small but important good news for reproductive rights: Effective this month, insurance companies in the state must cover six months of prescription contraception coverage at a time, which means that, instead of only being able to access one to three months’ worth of birth control pills at a time, Idahoans are entitled to coverage for a six-month supply. In 2022, a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that a third of female contraceptive users missed taking their birth control because they couldn’t access their next supply of pills in time.
Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow (D), the sponsor of the new law, had introduced a bill like this twice before; last year, it narrowly passed the state House by one vote and the Senate by three. In an op-ed last week, Wintrow wrote that the new policy “represents a significant step forward” at a time when “our draconian, conflicting reproductive rights laws have led to pregnant women being airlifted to Utah and more than 22% of our OBGYNs fleeing the state.” And it does—any amount of progress that can be prised out of a Republican-controlled legislature matters and can change lives.