From Tuesday morning well into the afternoon, the Iowa State Capitol brimmed with Bans Off Our Bodies protesters and counter protesters, responding to a bill from Governor Kim Reynolds intending to ban abortions after just six weeks of conception.
Currently, abortion is legal up to 20 weeks after conception in Iowa.
Mazie Stilwell, the director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood’s Advocates of Iowa, called the parameters of the bill “unprecedented” for the state of Iowa.
“Never before have we seen a governor call a special session to advance their own political agenda like this,” Stilwell said. “Iowans are shocked and outraged by this for good reason. This is not something that should be happening. And the legislation being considered today goes directly in opposition to what Iowans have told us time and time again that they want, which is access to safe and legal abortion.”
“What we’re looking at today is a tyrannical power grab. This overreach of power is frankly horrifying. And what we’re looking at is a near total abortion ban here in Iowa. This bill would ban about 98 percent of abortions in the state of Iowa. So it is absolutely unconscionable that legislators are coming back here for the sole purpose of stripping Iowans of their rights, that they have said consistently that they value and are just completely disregarding what Iowans want them to do.”
Despite the efforts of dissenting politicians and protesters demanding women receive adequate and sufficient healthcare and for abortion to remain a personal decision, the future for equal healthcare in the state is cloudy at best.
The legislation ended with a 56-34 vote passing the bill in the Iowa House and 32-17 vote passing the bill in the Iowa Senate. Reynolds has announced her intention to sign the bill this Friday, which would put the ban into effect immediately.
