ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have made birth control more accessible to Alaska women.

House Bill 17 would have allowed women to get a year’s worth of prescription birth control at once. Currently, most insurance providers in Alaska cover only up to 90 days’ worth of birth control pills at a time.

At least 24 states and Washington, D.C., have adopted laws enshrining the 12-month rule. Proponents say it is particularly important for rural women who may not be able to reach a pharmacy every 90 days; and for victims of domestic violence. But it impacts women in myriad ways and situations, by reducing the regular need to travel to pharmacies and refill prescriptions. Advocates for the bill also say it could prevent unintended pregnancies, thus leading to a reduction in abortions.

Similar legislation has been introduced in Alaska regularly since 2016. But this was the first year it had passed in both the House and Senate. It did so with bipartisan support.

Dunleavy wrote in a veto letter that “compelling insurance companies to provide mandatory coverage for a year is bad policy.” He did not explain why it constituted “bad policy.”

Fairbanks Democratic state Rep. Ashley Carrick, the primary sponsor of the legislation, said she had attempted to speak with Dunleavy or members of his administration multiple times about the bill during the legislative session. All requests were “ignored or denied,” she said.

“In the absence of having a real dialogue on this issue, we can’t make substantive progress,” said Carrick.

Carrick said the veto “after eight years of tireless effort, overwhelming community support, and positive collaboration with the insurance companies, is deeply disappointing.”

Rose O’Hara-Jolley, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocated Alaska director, said in a statement that the veto meant Dunleavy “has chosen to keep barriers in place that make it difficult for all folks to access essential medication.”

Dunleavy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

State Rep. Dan Saddler, an Eagle River Republican and member of the House Health and Social Services Committee, voted no when the bill was before the House. Saddler said he felt some of the arguments were “unpersuasive” for 12 months of mandatory insurance coverage for contraception. “I guess I would say that the existing structure of insurance, I felt, was sufficient to provide for the needs we heard about,” Saddler said. “Not everything requires a governmental, legal mandate as a solution.”

The bill addressing contraceptives access is one of three that Dunleavy vetoed in a matter of days. Another would have required companies that enable individuals to rent out their cars to pay taxes to the state, as is currently required of traditional brick-and-mortar car rental companies. A third would have laid out clear rules for employees of large warehouses, such as those operated by online retailer Amazon. All three bills passed with bipartisan support and were vetoed by Dunleavy more than three months after they were adopted.

Carrick said in a statement that the veto of the contraceptives bill “is among a number of clear examples of how Gov. Dunleavy continues to prioritize politics and power over the well-being of our communities.”

Dunleavy’s recent vetoes come after a string of actions thwarting legislation that had passed with bipartisan support, including a popular bill that would have permanently increased education funding by a significant amount for the first time in years, which Dunleavy vetoed in March.

“It’s hard for us to make reforms and advance good policy with this administration,” said Anchorage state Rep. Andy Josephson.

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