Ashley Hinson

Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson is reintroducing legislation in Congress that would allow adults to access over-the-counter birth control.

The legislation continues Hinson's longstanding work on bills related to contraceptives and maternal health even as her Democratic opponents criticize her record on reproductive health care and abortion as she runs for U.S. Senate.

Hinson's bill, the Allowing Greater Access to Safe and Effective Contraception Act, would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to give priority review to already-approved oral contraceptives to allow them to be sold over the counter without a prescription.

"We should make it easier for adult women to access safe, effective over-the-counter birth control options," Hinson said in a statement provided to the Des Moines Register. "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. My legislation would allow adult women to access FDA-approved contraception over-the-counter at their local pharmacy."

Hinson's legislation is focused on birth control pills. The bill would not apply to emergency contraceptives or any drugs approved to induce abortion. It would expand access for anyone 18 years old or older.

In 2022, she voted against a Democratic-led bill, the Right to Contraception Act, which would have more broadly protected the right to access contraceptives.

Hinson, who represents northeast Iowa's 2nd District, has introduced the legislation each term in Congress since 2022. In the past, her efforts have been cosponsored by fellow members of Iowa's delegation, U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn. U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst has led the effort to pass the bill in the Senate, supported by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Hinson is also introducing the Access to LARCs Act, referring to long-acting reversible contraception. The bill would instruct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to study barriers that community health centers in rural areas face when it comes to offering different forms of birth control.

"I’ve also been focused on improving maternal care and women’s health overall, because too many women still don’t have the support they need — whether it’s before, during or after pregnancy," Hinson said. "Expanding access to safe birth control options is part of that, giving women the opportunity to plan their families in a way that works for them."

Hinson's work on bills to expand maternal health care and birth control access include the Pregnant Students' Rights Act, Lactation Spaces for Veteran Moms Act, the Midwives for MOMS Act, the Supporting Healthy Pregnancy Act, the Early Education Savings Program Act, the After Hours Child Care Act and helping to secure $1 million for the Grinnell Regional Medical Center's labor and delivery unit.

Democrats have criticized Hinson's record on reproductive health. She is a cosponsor of the Life at Conception Act, which defines life as beginning at "the moment of fertilization" and would ban all abortions.

As a member of the Iowa House in 2018, she also voted for a bill that would ban nearly all abortions in Iowa after about six weeks of pregnancy. That version of the law was struck down in court, but after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its Roe v. Wade decision, lawmakers passed a new version that took effect in 2024.

(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)