All about the Iowa legislature's special session on abortion

"Capitol Week," July 12 edition

Photo by Laura Belin from a rally for reproductive rights at the state capitol, July 11

Dennis Hart and I were live on KHOI Radio Wednesday at noon in the time slot when the station usually rebroadcasts Monday night’s “Capitol Week.” Even though we spent the entire 30 minutes on the Iowa legislature’s special session, there were angles we didn’t manage to explore.

I have several posts in progress at Bleeding Heartland. If you’d like to receive links to those in the coming days, subscribe to my other free email newsletter. I live-tweeted the Iowa House debate for about five hours; that thread starts here.

Here’s the audio from our July 12 program. Our entire back catalogue is available on KHOI’s website.

Starting from the top:

• The Iowa House and Senate approved the latest version of a near-total abortion ban. Here’s the full text of House File 732. It’s nearly identical to the 2018 law that Governor Kim Reynolds tried to reinstate last year;

• Senate roll call: 33 votes to 17, with Republican Mike Klimesh joining Democrats in opposition. I reached out to him but haven’t heard back on whether he voted no because the bill went too far or not far enough in banning abortion;

• House roll call: 56 to 34, with Republicans Mark Cisneros and Zach Dieken joining Democrats. They voted no because they support a total abortion ban. Dieken told me yesterday that in his view, the bill “legalizes abortion” and imposes “zero consequences” for “the murder of another human being”;

• Ten House members (six Republicans and four Democrats) didn’t show up for the special session. The Republicans were State Representatives Michael Bergan, Jane Bloomingdale, Ken Carlson, Tom Determann, Barb Kniff McCulla, and Brian Lohse. Bloomingdale voted against the 2018 version of the bill;

• Reynolds issued a statement late Tuesday night taking a jab at the Iowa Supreme Court: “The Iowa Supreme Court questioned whether this legislature would pass the same law they did in 2018, and today they have a clear answer”;

• Dennis and I dug into the details about the bill, which would prohibit an estimated 98 percent of abortions. Although the floor managers (State Representative Shannon Lundgren and Senate President Amy Sinclair) repeatedly disputed that it is a “six-week ban,” it would prohibit most abortions after embryonic cardiac activity (technically not a heartbeat) could be detected, which usually occurs around six weeks;

• Moving to the exceptions: the bill allows abortions in cases of “rape,” if the rape was reported within 45 days of the attack. The language is not legally correct, since the Iowa criminal code does not define rape. Rather, Iowa Code refers to sexual abuse of various degrees. Asked about this during the Iowa House debate, Lundgren said Iowans know what rape is;

• The bill includes an exception for incest if reported within 140 days, but does not define incest. Iowa Code defines incest in two different ways;

• The exceptions in cases of “medical emergency” (defined here in Iowa Code) are also unclear. The bill says the Iowa Board of Medicine will adopt rules to administer that part of the law, but it takes at least 90 days for a state board to complete the rule-making process. That means the bill will take effect on Reynolds’ signature this Friday, but physicians and hospitals won’t know what circumstances will qualify as medical emergencies;

• Democratic State Representative Megan Srinivas, who is an infectious disease doctor, explained during the Iowa House debate that from a medical perspective, “emergency” means someone is decompensating and at risk of dying right now. Lots of conditions can become life-threatening (e.g. a cancer diagnosis), but may not kill a pregnant person today;

• The bill’s definition of medical emergency refers to “serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman,” but it excludes several other considerations, such as psychological or familial conditions, or the woman’s age. Some practitioners might say a person’s advanced age or mental health status (e.g. suicidal thoughts) or familial conditions (e.g. abusive partner) put her at great risk if forced to continue a pregnancy. Those conditions are all excluded;

• Speaking of the “woman’s age,” Democrats ran amendments in both chambers seeking to allow abortion anytime the pregnant person is age 12 or under. Republicans voted down those amendments, even though medical professionals might say it’s always dangerous for someone so young to give birth;

• The bill allows abortion if “the fetus has a fetal abnormality that in the physician’s reasonable medical judgment is incompatible with life.” But that can be a subjective determination, and as mentioned above, the Board of Medicine hasn’t adopted rules spelling out what kinds of anomalies qualify as incompatible with life. Incidentally, Iowa’s existing 20-week abortion ban (adopted in 2017) has no exception for fetal abnormalities;

• An untimely internet outage cut me off when I was trying to explain another issue: incest victims could get an abortion if the crime was reported in 140 days, but a child who was repeatedly raped by a non-family member could only qualify for the exception if the abuse was reported within 45 days;

• Dennis covered for me expertly while I was trying to get back online. He summarized the huge protest at the capitol; the Iowa House Health and Human Services Committee meeting, where Democrats offered amendments to the bill; and some of the noteworthy Republican and Democratic comments during the lengthy Iowa House and Senate debates;

• I got back online to talk about some unusual features of the debates. Republicans put “time certain” limits on debate, which prevented several senators from speaking on the bill. There were also severe restrictions on what amendments could be offered on the floor; Democrats wanted votes on other policies that would improve maternal health, such as extending postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months;

• Democratic State Senator Janice Weiner proposed an amendment to change the effective date, to give the Board of Medicine time to adopt new rules;

• It was a very emotional debate, with some legislators sharing personal experiences of their own, or messages from constituents;

• Several medical professionals testified during the Iowa House public hearing and the Senate subcommittee meeting. Dr. Francesca Turner, an OBGYN, said the bill does not make clear when doctors can step in during pregnancy complications. Two medical students who want to go into that field told lawmakers they won’t practice in Iowa if the abortion ban is enacted;

• Several Democratic legislators mentioned that Iowa already ranks last in OBGYNs per capita, and argued the bill would worsen the problem. It could also interfere with training OBGYNs on procedures they may need to address other medical situations besides abortions;

• The ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, and the Emma Goldman Clinic (an abortion provider in Iowa City) filed a lawsuit on Wednesday morning, seeking to block enforcement of the law the governor plans to sign on Friday. I’m working on a post about the case. You can read the initial court filing here, which asserts that the law will violate the Iowa Constitution in three ways;

• During the show, I said I didn’t know which judge would hear the case or when a hearing might be held. I learned Wednesday afternoon that Polk County District Court Judge Joseph Seidlin will preside over a hearing scheduled for July 14. In 2019, Seidlin issued a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of a law that targeted Planned Parenthood’s sex education funding;

• In most states, abortion bans have been put on hold while litigation is pending, but that hasn’t been the case everywhere. The plaintiffs are arguing that the law infringes on Iowans’ due process as well as “inalienable rights,” and violates the equal protection clause by singling out abortion from other medical procedures and discriminating against women;

• Leaders of Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic told reporters during a Monday briefing that they will continue to provide services when possible and will use patient navigators to help Iowans who may not be able to obtain an abortion in Iowa once the law is in effect;

• The ACLU of Iowa noted in a statement that the Iowa legislature spent less time debating and passing this bill than the 24-hour waiting period that is already mandatory for Iowans seeking abortions;

• During the Iowa House debate, Democratic State Representative Brian Meyer tried to get some clarification on another issue. The bill requires physicians to retain certain documents related to an ultrasound, raising a question: does this mean the Board of Medicine will have the right to examine people’s private medical records to determine whether a doctor inappropriately performed an abortion? Lundgren didn’t want to answer;

• How long before the Iowa Supreme Court rules on whether this law violates the state constitution? Based on the timeline from similar cases, I would say at least one year and perhaps two years;

• One big question is will Justice Dana Oxley recuse from this case, as she did from the recent case on whether to reinstate the 2018 abortion ban? The Cedar Rapids law firm where she used to be a partner is representing the Emma Goldman Clinic;

• Opinion polls have shown that the majority of Iowans think abortion should be mostly or always legal, which came up many times during the legislative proceedings this week. Republicans countered since that they passed this bill in 2018, they have increased their legislative majorities.

Dennis and I will be back on July 17 for our regularly scheduled edition of “Capitol Week.” We’ll have plenty to talk about related to abortion rights and Republican presidential candidates coming to Iowa this weekend.

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