Prolife Rally at Iowa Statehouse Touts Progress Made

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad said in his opening remarks to the prolife rally at the Iowa Statehouse that he believes that “life is very precious.”  He said the right to life has been a principle since American has emerged as a free nation and that  “We must never forget that.”  And this is the message that prolife activists hoped to send to legislators at the Iowa Statehouse for the rally yesterday afternoon.

The Rally for Life was co-sponsored by several pro-life groups in Iowa: Council of Catholic Women, Iowa Catholic Conference, Lawyers for Life, Iowa Right to Life, Iowans for LIFE, Knights of Columbus, Teen PACT, The FAMiLY Leader, and Patriots for Christ.  Prior to the rally, prolife activists received training on grassroots lobbying and then had the opportunity to speak to their legislators.  During the rally the prolife legislators in the Iowa House and Senate were introduced.

Governor Branstad during his remarks also shared his optimism for the future of the prolife cause.  He said, “I have seen progress.  As we have seen the advance of medicine and that children are being able to survive outside the womb at a younger and younger age more people are getting it and understand the importance of life and that it must be protected from conception.”

Branstad touted signing a parental notification law during a previous term as Governor and most recently appointed his priest Monsignor Frank Bognanno, the pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church in Des Moines, to the Iowa Medical Board.  This is the board that approved Planned Parenthood to do telemed abortions (medication induced abortions by consulting a doctor via webcam).

Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds addressing a common argument from the left that you can’t be prolife and be pro-woman said “I believe that the prolife movement is a pro-woman movement.”

The keynote speaker was Daniel McConchie, the vice president of governmental affairs at Americans United for Life.  He thanked the Governor and Lt. Governor for coming to the event noting that “there are a lot of Governors who wouldn’t come to an event like this.”

He said that the Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision while not overturning Roe v. Wade it “opened the door for states to pass new laws and regulations” like parental notification, parental consent laws, and bans on late term abortions. He said these laws have allowed us to “chip away” at abortion until we reach our ultimate goal of overturning Roe v. Wade.

He said we have also seen progress noting Gonzalez v. Carhart where the Supreme Court upheld the federal ban on partial-birth abortions.  He said in that decision the Supreme Court showed that they “were very concerned about the risks to women and risks to women’s health.  “This is the first time the court has begun to open that door even further,” McConchie said.

You can watch his full remarks below: