If you’ve ever taken a long road trip (or even a short one) with children, you’ve likely heard that question….”Are we there yet?” It’s a question we ask even now. Are we there yet? Has our state, our country turned back to doing everything in our power to care for the born and unborn, the elderly and infirm? We here at Iowa Right to Life – our board and staff – and our thousands of supporters across the state – make no apologies for wanting to see our state and our nation turn back to once again being a nation that believes ALL human life is sacred.
And while we are certainly “not there yet”, we see a resounding, undeniable shift in our society. A Gallup poll conducted near the beginning of this year showed us that nearly 60% of Americans polled professed themselves as PRO-LIFE. That’s a higher percentage than any other time since the devastating Roe v. Wade decision was thrust upon us in 1973.
Closer to home, late last month, a University of Iowa Hawkeye poll questioned participants on a number of issues-healthcare, gun control, abortion and more. In the report, paragraph 8 is stunning, not the least of which because they even asked the question: “Most Iowans support the Iowa State Board of Medicine’s decision to ban telemedicine abortions. While the ban was temporarily suspended on November 6, 66.3 percent of respondents supported banning telemedicine abortions. Support was especially high among Republicans (84.8 percent), but a majority of Democrats (52.9 percent) and Independents (64.2) also supported such a ban. Despite the recent action by the board and ensuing legal actions, most Iowans (59.6 percent) indicated that they did not know whether the state banned this practice.”
That’s 65% of Iowans surveyed who believe that webcam abortions should cease. What a profound encouragement as long have been the hours and days since we first sounded the alarm in 2008! That year, NOBODY had even heard the words “webcam abortion”–“telemedicine abortion.”
As we’ve previously reported, this past July we turned in 20,000 signatures in support of STOPPING webcam abortions to the Iowa Board of Medicine. Since that date, we have already collected another 10,000 signatures!! Signers to our petition are both pro-life and pro-choice! One conversation at a time–we are seeing hearts changed or softened to LIFE all across Iowa.
What started as an anonymous call from now-former Planned Parenthood of the Heartland clinic manager, Sue Thayer, into our office has turned into an overwhelming majority of Iowans who want to see dangerous schemes-like webcam abortion END in Iowa.
And we boldly, unapologetically press on toward that day when we no longer have to ask, “Are we there yet?”