Women’s rights advocates are applauding a measure signed into law by Governor David Ige.
Senate bill 2319 makes Hawai‘i the first state to require all public and private insurance providers to issue 12 months of birth control at a time. Currently most women are provided with a year-long prescription, however they are only able to pick up a few months at a time. The measure allows women to pick up their prescription only once a year.
Planned Parenthood officials say the former practice led to inconsistent use and accounted for almost half of unintended pregnancies. Laurie Field is the Legislative Director of the Hawai‘i branch of “Planned Parenthood Votes”.
Senate bill 2319 went into effect yesterday.
