INDIANAPOLIS — There's controversy at the Statehouse over changes to a long-term birth control access bill.
House Bill 1426 had required hospitals to offer long-term birth control access to new mothers on Medicaid.
However, that was changed to remove IUDs and would instead only offer contraceptive implants in the arm as the only option.
Republican Rep. Cindy Ledbetter, a co-author on the bill, testified in a Senate committee that Indiana Right to Life considered I-U-D's "abortive."
Planned Parenthood responded to the amended bill with a statement, reading in part:
“An IUD is not an abortion. It’s just one of many effective birth control methods Hoosiers have to protect themselves against a state of forced pregnancy. The Dobbs decision has emboldened reproductive health opponents in Indiana to spread lies and blur the lines between contraception and abortion." – Haley Bougher, Indiana State Director for PPAA.
IUDs would still be covered by Medicaid under the amended bill, but hospitals would not have to offer them. Hospitals are also exempt from offering contraceptives under the bill if there is a documented faith-based objection.
