More than 160 requests for reimbursement for emergency contraception and abortion care for rape survivors remain pending five months after Iowa Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird announced an audit of the Attorney General’s Victims Services Department. 

This audit resulted in the temporary pause of reimbursement to Iowa hospitals and pharmacies for emergency contraception and abortion care for rape survivors. 

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors will soon vote to potentially provide funding to pay for services for survivors of rape. 

“Iowans are suffering at the hands of their state leaders because of the dangerous policies they are implementing that disregard basic humanity,” Ruth Richardson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a news release on Thursday. 

Pending requests for the Crime Victim Compensation Fund total more than $7,500, according to a news release from Planned Parenthood of the North Central States. 

“It’s unjust and unfair that sexual assault survivors are being put in this position,” Richardson said. “The last thing they should have to worry about is affording the care they need after being attacked. They need compassionate, comprehensive care and the attorney general is cruelly putting that out of reach.” 

The Crime Victim Compensation Fund is funded by fines and penalties paid by convicts, not taxpayer dollars. Bird signaled in a recent appearance on Iowa Press that she intends to make the pause on payments for emergency contraception and abortion services permanently.