Iowa Republican zeroes in on birth control access in heated Senate race |
Iowa Republican zeroes in on birth control access in heated Senate race
Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), who is running to succeed retiring Sen. Joni Ernst (R), is pushing to expand access to birth control as the race for the open Senate seat heats up.
The Iowa congresswoman has long supported efforts to improve access and reintroduced legislation late last month aimed at reducing barriers to contraception, particularly in rural communities.
“I’ve heard from many Iowa women who have to drive long distances to see their doctor, making it difficult to get the care and prescriptions they need,” Hinson said in a statement reintroducing the legislation. “My legislation would allow adult women to access FDA-approved contraception over-the-counter at their local pharmacy.”
“Ensuring Iowa women can access safe birth control options over the counter is just common sense,” Hinson added in a social media post late last week.
Hinson’s renewed push comes as the GOP frontrunner looks to maintain her edge ahead of November’s general election, leaning into an issue that could appeal to women and no-party voters — Iowa’s term for independents — in a state Democrats are aggressively targeting ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Timothy Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa, noted that the legislation is backed by fellow Iowa Republican Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn, whose districts Democrats are targeting in the midterms.
“My guess is that, at least at some level, that it’s a good time for Hinson and Miller-Meeks and Nunn to bring up legislation like this that’s going to help women get those over-the-counter birth control, either medicines or devices, whatever it happens to be,” Hagle said.
“I think there’s a political calculation there, to some extent, but it’s probably also just a matter of appealing to folks that this is a concern,” he added.
Democrats have descended on Iowa ahead of November’s midterms, as they see a unique opportunity to gain an edge with two open elections — for Senate and for governor, with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R)........