POLK COUNTY, Iowa — The Polk County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to continue funding emergency contraception for victims of sexual assault.
The 5-0 vote will help victims of sexual assault and rape access counseling, advocacy services, emergency contraception and abortion in rare "but necessary" circumstances. According to the item's addendum, these services are estimated to cost the county $2,600 in in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
"To offer these victims these services at a time in their life when they're dealing with a very traumatic and difficult event, I think it's the right thing to do, and to do less than that is disgusting, and almost cruel," said first district supervisor Matt McCoy.
The county's vote comes at a time when Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird paused funding to these services after taking office January.
"We did pause payments to entities like Planned Parenthood and others that were being reimbursed for abortions and for Plan B," Attorney General Bird told Iowa Press earlier this month. "However, those services still remain available under Iowa law to victims."
After Bird's pause, it depends on whether public funds will pay for these services. And on Tuesday, the Polk County's Board of Supervisors made the decision to do so, strictly for their county.
Tom Hockensmith, Polk County's fourth district supervisor, told Local 5: "This is something more basic. Just basic needs. We can't control what the legislature does in those major situations, but at least we can control the types of services for citizens here in Polk County."
Polk County helped 270 women who were victims of sexual assault or rape in 2022 — and of those women, 105 received free emergency contraception, according to a statement from chair Tom Hockensmith and supervisor Angela Connolly. The members also claimed these services cost the county "a minimal expense of few thousand dollars total."
"There will be no victim shaming, there will be no strings attached to this that seek treatment, they seek care, they deal with their trauma and we support them," McCoy told Local 5. "We provide the funding through county resources for these individuals."
Attorney General Bird has not commented on whether she will unpause funding for these services statewide.
Local 5 reached out to Bird's office for comment but has yet to hear back.
Amid a turbulent battle over abortion access in the state following Gov. Kim Reynolds' newest six-week abortion bill's signing and the subsequent injunction placed on it, the board said its decision "puts women before partisan politics." Currently, abortion is legal in Iowa up until the 20-week mark in pregnancy.
"But to those women, we hope that they felt supported and cared for in a comprehensive and complete manner that allowed them to begin the process of rebuilding their lives after one of the most traumatic events that a woman can experience... Polk County will continue to support funding for emergency contraception and other healthcare services for women who are victims of sexual assault and rape," the board's statement reads in part.