Des Moines, IA — Instead of addressing the needs of Iowans, today politicians advanced bills that would assign personhood to a fetus at the moment of fertilization and allow civil wrongful death action for the “wrongful death” of an embryo or fetus at any point in pregnancy.
Specifically, the bills that advanced include:
- HF2230 would allow a civil wrong death action for the “wrongful death” of an embryo or fetus at any point in pregnancy, ignoring already existing medical malpractice laws to push “fetal personhood” into state law. Similar “fetal personhood” language has caused confusion in the legal system, creating avenues for domestic abuse survivors up to be harassed by their abusers and opening pregnant people up to surveillance and penalties for common pregnancy outcomes, like miscarriage.SSB 3006 would allow almost anyone who works at a health care facility or health care insurer to refuse to provide any type of health care service they do not personally support, while placing extreme procedural burdens on abortion providers.
- HF 2031 and SF 2150 would require that students be shown “a computer-generated rendering or animation,” similar to the “Meet Baby Olivia” video by Live Action, the anti-abortion group pushing this in legislatures across the country. Under the guise of depicting actual fetal development, the video presents personal beliefs and medically inaccurate information as scientific fact.
- HSB 643 is Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposal to extend postpartum Medicaid from the current 60 days to 12 months but significantly lower the income cap, meaning far fewer Iowans would be able to access Medicaid postpartum coverage.
- HF 2057 loosens the accountability requirements for the state and third-party contractors administering the program the stalled MOMS program, which currently diverts $2 million in taxpayer money to anti-abortion groups. It also would reduce transparency for the public by removing the requirement for program administrator and subcontractor criteria to be published on the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services website.
“Iowa faces multiple health crises and yet our elected officials are focused on medically unnecessary and harmful legislation that only further sends the state down a dangerous path that has already deeply cracked the foundation of Iowa’s health care system,” said Mazie Stilwell, Public Affairs Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa. “Iowans deserve better than the egregious and harmful policies being introduced this legislative session. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to improve the lives of Iowans—and the people elected to represent us are doing nothing to move the needle forward. We must demand better and hold lawmakers accountable for every vote they take in stripping our ability to access essential health care and make medically informed choices.”
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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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