Young people in Juneau gather to protest Dunleavy’s ‘incomprehensible’ contraceptive expansion veto

Protestors gathered astatine nan Alaska State Capitol aft Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a measure that would person expanded entree to contraceptives. September 11, 2014. (Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO).

Dozens gathered connected nan sidewalk crossed from nan Alaska State Capitol building Wednesday holding pinkish and cardboard signs saying, “healthcare is simply a right, not a privilege” and “reproductive state by immoderate intends necessary.” 

And astir half nan group were teenagers who canʼt ballot yet.

They were location to protestation Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a measure that would person expanded entree to commencement control. 

For Juneau Douglas High School Yadaa.at Kalé elder Nova Brakes-Hines, nan specter of constricted reproductive attraction has haunted her for 2 years — and her family for longer.

“My mom was a teen mother and didn’t really person nan correct to choose, and Roe v. Wade is thing that’s been affecting maine since I was 15 and it sewage overturned,” Brakes-Hines said. “So it’s conscionable really important to me.”

She said she wants to person power complete her ain future.

“I americium a really difficult moving student, and I do a batch of things to effort to make nan champion early for myself,” she said. “And truthful nan thought that that could beryllium stripped distant from maine astatine immoderate moment, moreover if it’s not my choice, is really terrifying for maine and a batch of young women.”

She said that erstwhile she’s aged enough, she hopes to ballot nan politicians who are trying to return that distant retired of office.

House Bill 17 would person required wellness security companies to supply commencement power for 12 months astatine a time. Now, they only screen 1 to 3 months earlier patients would person to return to nan drugstore aliases provider. 

And while going backmost to nan drugstore regularly is inconvenient for group successful larger cities, it tin beryllium intolerable successful agrarian communities, said Supanika Ordóñez, different protestor.

“And there’s a large quality erstwhile you tin get a year’s worthy of medicine versus conscionable a period astatine a time, particularly if you don’t person entree to a pharmacy, it’s really prohibitive to person to support going back,” Ordóñez said. 

Juneau Rep. Sara Hannan – who is simply a Democrat – said that for group moving and surviving successful distant communities, nan delays successful receiving their medicine could lead to lapses successful taking nan medication, which impacts its effectiveness.

“But crossed Alaska, nan de-facto norm is mail-out prescriptions,” she said. “And we cognize if there’s a message hold and you can’t get a renewal until 90 days, and they don’t nonstop it until time 87 and nan message doesn’t get location until it’s time 92 and you’ve had a five-day spread successful your contraceptive, that’s a problem.”

And Hannan said she thought nan legislature had worked retired immoderate concerns pinch nan measure successful nan galore years itʼs spent successful committee. It besides had bipartisan support.

“So I deliberation because this measure had been worked connected for 8 years, right?” she said. “This wasn’t its first rodeo. I’ve been successful legislature 3 terms. It had already been location earlier I sewage elected, and I deliberation we believed that those concerns had been addressed. This isn’t introducing immoderate caller process of techniques. It’s conscionable giving a user and entree to a supplier that they need.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Dunleavy told Alaska Public Media that “Contraceptives are wide available, and compelling security companies to supply mandatory sum for a twelvemonth is bad policy.” 

But Juneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl – besides a Democrat – said nan veto doesnʼt make sense, and it wasnʼt expected. 

“It was an incomprehensible veto, and you tin perceive group are really upset astir it,” he said amid nan chanting Wednesday. “They should be.”