Medication Abortion Ban That Would Outlaw Nearly 80 Percent of Iowa Abortion Also Failed to Advance
Des Moines, IA—A total abortion ban modeled after Texas’s cruel and dangerous bounty-hunter law that would also make it illegal for Iowans to help individuals seeking abortion failed to make it out of the first funnel of the 2023 legislative session meaning, for now, the bill will not advance this legislative session.
The measure, introduced earlier this week by 20 House Republicans, would have given private citizens the opportunity to file a lawsuit against an abortion provider, abortion funds, and those who help patients access an abortion if the person believes the provider or fund intends to violate the law. The near total abortion ban, HF510, also directs internet service providers to block access to information related to abortion care and penalizes people, companies and organizations from supporting abortion or working with abortion-rights advocates. House leadership quickly and publicly squashed the bill, saying it would not be assigned a subcommittee hearing.
Republicans pledged at the beginning of the legislative session that they would not introduce further abortion restrictions until the Iowa Supreme Court rules later this year on Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request to resurrect a law banning abortion at about six weeks. In addition to the near total ban, Republicans also introduced legislation banning medication abortion, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of all abortions in Iowa. The measure also did not make it through the first funnel.
“For now, abortion remains safe and legal in Iowa, thanks to the uproar from Iowans about the proposed abortion ban,” said Mazie Stilwell, Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa. “But, make no mistake, this fight is far from over. Even though Republicans in Iowa can’t agree on how or when to ban abortion, their intent to outlaw it is crystal clear. We stand with Iowans and aren’t backing down, because people—not politicians or judges—should control their bodies and future.”
As politicians work to take away Iowans’ fundamental right to bodily autonomy, lawmakers are also pushing bills through the Iowa House and Senate to quadruple taxpayer funding for anti-abortion centers that push false, religiously-laced propaganda on people to dissuade them from having an abortion. Republicans are selling these fake clinics, commonly called “crisis pregnancy centers,”, as legitimate alternatives to abortion care, even though they usually do not have medical providers on staff and are not regulated by the state.
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Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa (PPAI) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a mission of fostering and preserving a social and political climate favorable to reproductive health. To meet this mission, PPAI engages in lobbying, issues education, and supporter mobilization.
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