Not that long ago, Iowa was worse than New York State in protecting our unborn children and women. As I spoke around the state, the conversation often went like this:
Jenifer: “Did you know that an abortion can happen up through the day of delivery in Iowa? That, for virtually any reason, a woman can choose to have an abortion through all nine months? In fact, even my native New York has tried, unsuccessfully, to become as extreme as Iowa. And can’t even get there!”
Audience: (Various vocal exclamations and facial expressions of anger and sadness.)
Jenifer: “That offends you as Iowans, doesn’t it? And rightfully so! We are worse here than New York!”
To be clear, this wasn’t from lack of trying. For decades, pro-life Iowans have valiantly fought for life-saving legislation. It would be nearly impossible to list all of the dozens of proposed bills to bring an end to abortion in Iowa.
Over the next three weeks, I will take a closer look at the past few years in Iowa and how we are no longer more extreme than New York State.
First, let’s take a look back at the life-saving ultrasound legislation Governor Branstad signed into law in 2015. This was the first pro-life bill to see the light of day in decades!
With its passage, each woman seeking an abortion must now be offered the opportunity to view her baby’s image via ultrasound. She is to be “provided information regarding the options relative to a pregnancy, including continuing the pregnancy to term and retaining parental rights following the child’s birth, continuing the pregnancy to term and placing the child for adoption, and terminating the pregnancy.”
Statistics show that women and men, with an opportunity to view her baby’s ultrasound image, choose life, reducing abortions 70% to 90%!
Who knows how many babies have been saved in Iowa since 2015 as a result of this law?!
Stay tuned! Next week, we will take a closer look at more of the pro-life legislation enacted in Iowa beyond 2015!