Is The Pro-Life Movement “Dying” In Iowa?

I am reminded of the infamous Mark Twain quote as I write this: “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Earlier this summer, an unnamed blogger posted about an interaction that took place with a few pro-life people here in Iowa.

One of the things that jumped out in their post was the assertion that the pro-life movement in Iowa “is dying.”

Is that true?

I am here to testify that NOTHING could be further from the truth!!! Eight years on the road (and counting), crisscrossing this beautiful state makes me an unofficial expert on this topic.

Rather than simply take my word for it — here are but a few random facts that show us the fruit of the pro-life movement in Iowa has never been more evident or more flourishing than now.

• Late-Term Abortionist, LeRoy Carhart, announcing his plan in 2010 to set up shop in Council Bluffs, NEVER DID. Why? Because the pro-life community rose up and made it completely clear — he wasn’t welcome here. At all. We knew, in 2015, when he dropped his plan to move into Iowa from his website that we had WON!
• Iowa abortions rates have plummeted nearly 50% since 2007!
• TWENTY Planned Parenthood clinics CLOSED FOR GOOD in Iowa between 2010-2017! In fact, we are second in the nation, only to Texas, for the number of clinics closing!
• None of the half-dozen Iowa clinics scheduled to open shortly after 2011 ever did. In fact, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland (PPH) never got close to their goal of a walk-in abortion clinic in all 99 counties.
• The multi-billion dollar whistleblower lawsuit, filed in 2011 by former PPH clinic manager, Sue Thayer, is still winding its way through the Courts.
• Planned Parenthood of the Heartland recently announced their IMPLOSION, as they fold into a merger with nearby states.
• Life-saving ultrasound legislation was signed into law a few years ago. This was the first pro-life law to see the light of day in decades!
• In November 2016, 93 of 99 Iowa counties voted against the pro-abortion presidential candidate, retired 6 pro-abortion senators; flipping the Iowa Senate and maintaining the pro-life House.
• This resulted in the passage of a historic amount of pro-life legislation in 2017-2018. Iowa moved from “worse than New York State” to one of the most pro-life states in the nation in just two years with the passage of:
  • The 20 Week Abortion Ban
  • A 72-hour waiting period before an abortion (Iowa Supreme Court struck down) 
  • The defunding of abortion providers in our state family planning budget
  • A first-of-its-kind Safe Haven Expansion Law
  • An important ban on the trafficking of unborn baby parts
  • The Fetal Heartbeat Bill (This bill is also before the courts.)
  • And the rejection of the Iowa Supreme Court decision allowing parents to sue a doctor for wrongful birth – wrongful life.
• Further, recent attempts by pro-choice “Compassion and Choices” and their legislative allies were beaten back as they aggressively pursued assisted suicide advances in Iowa.
• Since 2010, we have had a pro-life Governor, Lt. Governor and Legislature, who have sacrificed much to provide a safer Iowa to our unborn children and their mothers.
• Pro-life women in Iowa broke the proverbial glass ceiling as we saw the first female U.S. State Senator in Joni Ernst; our first female speaker of the House, Linda Upmeyer; and first woman Governor in Kim Reynolds and many others!
• Since 2013, down any given Iowa road, you will encounter a “Choose Life” license plate. I hope the sight of those make you smile as much as they do me.

As I said at the beginning of this article, this is by no means an exhaustive list of pro-life advances in Iowa in recent years. I trust, however, it gets you as excited as it does me! The assertion that the pro-life movement is “dying” is simply untrue. I know it and the majority of Iowans know it.

STAY TUNED!! 

Pro-life victories in Iowa have only just begun!