Des Moines, Iowa – State Auditor Rob Sand says he’s concerned about the length of time the Iowa attorney general is spending on reviewing the practice of using the Crime Victims’ Compensation fund to pay for emergency contraception. Sand, a Democrat, expressed concern there’s been nothing released since Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird paused the policy when she took office in January of last year.
Sand says he doesn’t understand why the payments were targeted for review.
Sand says he doesn’t understand why the Attorney General is doing this.
A.G. Bird’s communications director issued a statement saying the State Auditor and Planned Parenthood are flat wrong and “It is a shame that the auditor is playing politics with a critical audit of victim services and blasting misinformation to boost his own profile.” The statement goes on to say it is not required by Iowa law, but the victim compensation fund has previously paid for Plan B and abortions. It says as a part of her top-down, bottom-up audit of victim assistance “Attorney General Bird is carefully evaluating whether this is an appropriate use of public funds. That audit is ongoing. Until that review is complete, payment of these pending claims will be delayed.”
