Des Moines, IA—An Iowa Senate subcommittee today advanced an omnibus bill that funnels $2 million in taxpayer money to fund anti-abortion centers, boosting a costly state program that has less than a year under its belt and no publicly released results.
Anti-abortion centers, commonly called crisis pregnancy centers, usually do not have medical providers on staff and are not regulated by the state. They do not provide actual medical care. Instead, they push false, religiously-laced propaganda on people to dissuade them from having an abortion. The Senate Health and Human Services subcommittee passed the measure, SSB 1139, meaning it will now go to the full committee for a vote.
The hearing today comes as lawmakers who want to outlaw abortion in Iowa have introduced a ban on medication abortion, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of abortions in Iowa. Legislators have also pledged to introduce a total abortion ban.
“Politicians in Iowa are working hard to take away our rights, health care, and power over our bodies and futures, replacing them with anti-abortion health centers that deceive and mislead Iowans,” said Mazie Stilwell, Director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa. “Iowans need access to comprehensive, high-quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health care, which they’ve been stripped of under Republican policies. Make no mistake—we will stand for the will of Iowans and fight these attacks on our reproductive health and freedom.”
The omnibus bill also includes $560,000 for a state-funded family medicine obstetrical fellowship program but removes access to over-the-counter birth control that appeared in the House version of the bill, HSB 91.
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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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