Anti-abortion activists push new bills at Iowa Capitol, preview battle over court picks

Anti-abortion activists, who suffered a major setback this week with the legal end of Iowa's "fetal heartbeat" law, gathered in force at the Iowa Capitol Thursday, refocusing their energy on a swath of new bills aimed at additional restrictions and reshaping the courts.

Among the activists' most vocal supporters was Gov. Kim Reynolds. She told the Statehouse crowd that her decision Monday not to appeal a court ruling that struck down the "fetal heartbeat" law was difficult. The law would have prohibited most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

"You know I'm a fighter. You know I don't give up. And I believe with all my heart and soul that we have an obligation as a society to protect the sanctity of human life," the Republican said.

Reynolds reiterated she didn't see a successful path to appealing the heartbeat decision after an Iowa Supreme Court ruling last year that struck down a 72-hour waiting period for abortions and found a fundamental right to abortion in the Iowa Constitution.

"I believe and know that they got that decision wrong," Reynolds said. "And I'm here to tell you ... we are changing that because we are appointing judges to the bench that will apply the law and adhere to the Constitution of Iowa and the Constitution of the United States, not inject their own philosophy."

The remark drew cheers and previewed an effort by anti-abortion activists and Republican lawmakers to change the process for selecting judges to the Iowa Supreme Court. 

Iowa Supreme Court the focus of fight

Throughout the Thursday rally, anti-abortion activists referenced the Iowa Supreme Court and the rulings in recent years that have thrown off their legislative strategy to restrict abortion.

Rep. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, at one point raised a copy of the Iowa Constitution as she told the crowd that abortion protections are not spelled out in the document.

Salmon highlighted a proposed constitutional amendment to state that the Iowa Constitution "does not secure or protect a right to abortion."

That proposal, a key priority for anti-abortion activists, is intended to nullify last summer's Iowa Supreme Court ruling. It has support from Reynolds and 29 Republican sponsors in the Iowa Senate. More than a dozen House Republicans are co-sponsoring an identical version of the bill in their chamber.

"It's time for the Legislature to take back its power from the court," Salmon said.

Separately, Republicans are trying to change the selection process for judges to Iowa's court system. The bill, which is undergoing some changes, primarily would give lawmakers and the governor more say in a nominating commission that picks finalists for the Iowa Supreme Court and the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Democrats have sharply criticized the GOP proposals.

"This has everything to do with why they want to change the structure of the Iowa court system and politicize our courts," said Senate Democratic leader Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines. "They want to stack the courts with people that will help them push through an extreme agenda that takes away the rights of women across our state."

Anti-abortion bills get hearings 

Subcommittee meetings on three other abortion-related bills drew crowds Thursday.

Sen. Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull who is challenging U.S. Rep. Steve King for Congress, introduced a bill that would define the word "person" to mean "an individual living human being without regard to age of development from the moment of conception, when a zygote is formed, until natural death."

That would give a fetus equal constitutional and legal rights, according to the bill.

"I think people are starting to realize that wait a minute, these are children. These are little boys and little girls," Feenstra said. "And I think we have to understand that we have to protect these children."

Feenstra acknowledged that the Iowa Supreme Court's ruling makes things difficult for his bill.

Legislation by Sen. Brad Zaun, an Urbandale Republican, would make it a class A felony, punishable by life in prison, to intentionally end someone's pregnancy without their consent.

A third bill would prohibit certain federal funds from going to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. The funds are used for sexual health education programming. No state or federal funding pays for abortions in Iowa, though anti-abortion activists believe it indirectly supports abortion services.

Jamie Burch Elliott of the Planned Parenthood of the Heartland called the legislative efforts dangerous.

"These are personal beliefs that are trying to be imposed on Iowans," she said. "It is problematic in that way, but no matter what, Planned Parenthood is going to always provide access to safe and legal abortion, and we'll never back down from that."

Anti-abortion activists are fired up

Maggie DeWitte, executive director of Iowans for Life, said the number of abortion-related bills this session — which include other measures like one that would create an "abortion victims monument” on the state capitol grounds — reflect a rejection of recent, related legislation in states like New York and Virginia.

“I think that has really lit a fire in legislators and the pro-life community,” she said.

A new law in New York adds protections to abortion access; a failed Virginia bill would have loosened restrictions that allow someone to get an abortion in the third trimester.

The pieces of legislation have become anti-abortion rallying cries, especially after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam gave a radio interview last month that anti-abortion groups believe showed support for killing live babies.

A spokesman for Northam told the news outlet Vox that the comments were “absolutely not” a reference to infanticide.

Sheila Knoploh-Odole of Des Moines was on the upper level of the rotunda during Reynolds' speech. She periodically shouted at Reynolds to “keep your hands off my vagina” and added, “uncontrolled births are irresponsible.”

Knoploh-Odole said she didn’t come to the Statehouse to protest the event, but when she heard the speeches she said she felt that she had to speak out.

“I am an advocate for abortions and birth control and women’s right to choose so when I hear bullshit like what the governor is saying I’m going to speak out against it,” she said. “And if I have to yell at the top of my lungs that’s what I’m going to do.”