Sebastian's Point
Sebastian's Point is a weekly column written by one of our members regarding timely events or analysis of relevant ideas, which impact the Culture of Life. All regular members are invited to submit a column for publication at soss.submissions@gmail.com. Columns should be between 800 to 1300 words and comply with the high standards expected in academic writing, including proper citations of authority or assertions referred to in your column. Please see, Submission Requirements for more details.
Iowa still needs to Pass Pro-Life Abortion Ban
It is no secret pro-life advocates intend to end all abortions. For decades, millions of prayers and actions have occurred not only to curb abortions – but to end them. This holds true for Iowa activists.
Abortions in Iowa happened through all nine months of pregnancy, for virtually any reason,[1] over several decades. Iowans were unable to limit abortion due to State Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, a powerful, pro-abortion extremist, from 1985-2016.[2] Pro-life legislation would pass the House and die in the Senate.
Despite the outcry, Gronstal’s ousting took years. He, along with five other pro-abortion senators, was removed in 2016.[3] Additionally, ninety-three of ninety-nine counties voted for the pro-life Presidential candidate, Governor, Senate, and House, establishing a pro-life “trifecta,”[4] when one party holds the governorship and both legislative chambers. They are still in power.[5]
After this historic shift, the 2017 Legislature passed a flurry of pro-life legislation,[6] including the long-awaited twenty-week abortion ban;[7] all signed into law.
A Fetal Heartbeat Law[8] was passed in 2018,[9] only to be sued and placed under an immediate injunction.[10] After five years of winding through the Courts, the Law is likely at its last stop, Iowa’s Supreme Court, awaiting action.[11] Stymied repeatedly, it has not saved a life. More on this Law can be found on the Society of St. Sebastian website.[12] No other bans were introduced in the trifecta-led Legislature between 2019-2022.
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In 2022, the state’s Supreme Court reversed its previous decision, ruling there is no right to an abortion in the state’s Constitution,[13] a significant pro-life victory. One week later, after almost fifty years, in another stunning pro-life win, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) overturned Roe v. Wade[14] and Doe v. Bolton, on June 24, 2022; rulings responsible for the murders of an estimated 63-million preborn children between 1973-2022.
SCOTUS’ decision unleashed unintended consequences. With no ban on the first twenty-weeks of pregnancy, Iowa became an abortion sanctuary.[15] Subsequently, Iowa’s Planned Parenthood claims they have increased abortion rates.[16] Their purported growth is unverified until the Department of Health and Human Services releases the data within a few years. They assert women are traveling from border states and as far away as Texas and Louisiana,[17] assisted by “navigators”,[18] who arrange travel, hotels, finances, anything needed.
Despite the abortion destination status, Governor Reynolds refused to call a special session[19] after Roe and Doe’s demise, choosing to “wait and see what the courts decide” on the Heartbeat Law. Months later, another District Court judge ruled against it.[20]
The first post-Roe legislative session began in January 2023. With Roe and Doe’s fall, more pro-life lawmakers elected 2022 and the Governor’s re-election,[21] it seemed abortion would soon be outlawed.
That did not happen. Instead, Republican leaders spoke out against any new pro-life legislation until the top Court rules on the Heartbeat Law.[22]
Disregarding the potential fallout for defying leadership, one freshman legislator spoke up. Rep. Luana Stoltenberg announced she would introduce legislation to protect the vast majority of preborn children throughout the first twenty-weeks of pregnancy.[23] She shared about her three abortions, declaring, “I stand before you to say abortion is not a good option and we need to end it in our state.”[24]
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The Iowa Protect Human Life Act-House File 510,[25] is modeled after Texas law SB 8 and co-sponsored by twenty Representatives. It is “to be enforced through lawsuits from private individuals, rather than law enforcement or government officials” and allows citizens to file lawsuits against anyone performing abortions, administering drugs intended to cause abortions, or who aids, or abets women seeking abortions. A lawsuit cannot be brought against a post-abortive woman. It contains exemptions for “in vitro fertility treatments, emergency contraception, intrauterine devices, medical care that is intended to treat miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, treat a medical emergency or to save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child.”
The Protect Human Life Act[26] goes beyond the Fetal Heartbeat Law.[27] This new legislation would end almost every abortion. Whereas, the other only protects preborn children with detectable heartbeats, generally accepted at around the sixth week of pregnancy, although most hearts start beating around day sixteen, post-fertilization.[28] Additionally, the Heartbeat Law contains several troubling exceptions, including rape, or when the abortionist thinks the preborn child is “incompatible with life, among others.”[29]
Stoltenberg’s bill[30] lay dormant as the legislative funnel loomed, finally introduced, mere hours before the deadline. The funnel is “a weeding out process where only the bills with the most support get to pass through...”[31] By March 5, “all bills had to be voted out of Senate and House subcommittees and full committees and sent to the full chamber. Bills that don't make it out of committee are essentially dead.”[32]
While claiming to be pro-life, some legislative leaders publicly denounced the bill[33] that would have protected the majority of preborn babies.
“The bill was never going anywhere”[34] and “the proposed abortion ban is not leadership's outline,” stated House Speaker Pat Grassley.[35]
House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Rep. Steven Holt, vowed to “recommend to the members of his committee that they not advance the bill this year…”[36] Denied a subcommittee, they did not vote.
Following the funnel, Rep. Stoltenberg shared with the Society of St. Sebastian, “I was told from the onset that the Governor and leadership did not want any pro-life legislation this session because [the] Heartbeat [law][37] is still in the courts… I knew that would not be until at least June and the session would be over…”
“I talked with leadership and was told I could put (the bill) in, but it would not go anywhere.’ That is exactly what happened. The bill was held and just before funnel, it was read in and sent to the House Judiciary Committee, who did not give it a subcommittee,” killing it, Stoltenberg affirmed. She will reintroduce it in 2024. Stoltenberg and other lawmakers introduced a medication abortion ban[38] that failed as it was never assigned a subcommittee either.
With an expanded Republican trifecta after the 2022 elections,[39] they have sixty-four Representatives in the one-hundred-seat House. They have thirty-four Senators out of fifty districts, securing a supermajority with sixty-percent of the power. With wide majorities, this Legislature should have been allowed to vote on the life-saving ban. It could have been a victory, allowing preborn children protection and ending the heinous abortion sanctuary status.
Equally disappointing for pro-life Iowans has been the silence from organizations who claim to “defend the defenseless.” They have offered no public pushback or outcry regarding the refusal of professing pro-life politicians to pursue an abortion ban.
A Supreme Court hearing on the Heartbeat Law will be held in April, with a ruling possibly by June. Legislators adjourn in late April,[40] long before the Court rules. If the Court kills the law there is no possibility of an abortion ban prior to 2024 without the Governor calling a special session.
When they rule, one of three things may happen:
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1. The Court could protect the preborn, remove the injunction, allowing it to go into effect. A large number of abortions would then end. It is still imperative that Rep. Stoltenberg re-introduces her bill,[41] which would ban almost every abortion, beyond the Heartbeat Law[42] boundaries.
2. The justices may rule against it, stopping it forever. Governor Reynolds could call a special session, allowing legislators to pass a ban through pregnancy’s first twenty-weeks.
3. If they kill it, the Governor could again deny a special session,[43] ensuring an abortion sanctuary for the foreseeable future. Preborn babies continue to be aborted until a ban protects them. The Legislature must wait until 2024 for another opportunity to pursue it.
As the Heartbeat Law[44] languishes, preborn children are in jeopardy, not because of the minority party’s pro-abortion extremists. Lives precariously hang in the balance due to the inaction of the trifecta’s leadership. Alongside Governor Reynolds, House, and Senate leaders made it no secret they deliberately squelched pro-life legislation.[45] Preborn babies are killed daily, now with leadership’s outright refusal to protect them.
These leaders exhibit no sense of urgency to stop abortion’s violence. The seeming lack of concern for the plight of preborn babies was expressed devastatingly by House Speaker Pat Grassley. After squashing Stoltenberg’s abortion ban, he stated, “there would be a ‘broad amount of bills’ considered in the final days before the deadline.”[46]
This Republican-led legislative body managed to “rush over one-hundred bills through subcommittees” in the hours leading up to the funnel.[47]
But no abortion ban. No life-saving legislation. Not a single bill to protect babies in the womb.
Grassley’s tone-deaf pronouncement diminishes the peril of preborn children. Every abortion forcefully murders a developing person.
Jon Jacobsen, a staunch pro-life leader, who spent the last several years serving in the House, shared with the Society of St. Sebastian the moral imperative of saving all preborn babies.
“We are in a post-Roe, Dobbs era. All previous excuses by the GOP (‘we have to wait ‘til Roe is overturned’) fall by the wayside. The time is now. Why can't we wait? Lives are at stake real-time.”
Abortions have not slowed down as leadership waits on the Courts. In fact, abortion rates rose for the first time in several years.[48] 14,208 preborn babies were killed between 2018-2021,[49] according to Iowa’s Department of Health and Human Services. This number may be higher as 2021’s abortion numbers are preliminary.[50] Using 2020 abortion numbers,[51] the last year with confirmed abortion rates, a conservative projection of abortions between 2018-2022 would be 18,265.[52] If abortions continue unchecked through 2023, there will likely be at least 22,322 abortions from 2018-2022.[53]
When Roe and Doe fell last summer, SCOTUS paved the way for abortion’s end in Iowa. Instead, with women from much of middle America seeking abortions there, thousands of lives will continue to be killed until Iowa’s professing pro-life leaders stop preventing legislation[54] that will fully protect preborn babies.
Jenifer Bowen, a long-time leader in the pro-life movement, including a long tenure as CEO of Iowa Right to Life, was diagnosed in 2019 with a lifelong battle of Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer. She remains passionate in her defense of preborn babies and their mothers, the infirm and elderly.
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[1] Iowa Right to Life. “How Can Carhart Abort Viable Babies in Iowa? It’s Legal. Iowa’s ban on third trimester abortions is not a ban.” Iowa Right to Life Newsletter, Page 3. January 2011. https://iowartl.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IRTL_News_January_2011.pdf.
[2] Greenblatt, Alan. “Mike Gronstal: Iowa’s Perennial Power Player.” Governing. December 10. 2015. https://www.governing.com/archive/gov-mike-gronstal-iowa.html.
[3] Andrusko, Dave. “Iowa pro-lifers enjoyed huge electoral successes at federal and state levels.” National Right to Life News. November 16. 2016. https://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/2016/11/iowa-pro-lifers-enjoyed-huge-electoral-successes-at-federal-and-state-levels.
[4] Ballotpedia. “Party control of Iowa state government.” Ballotpedia. March 10. 2023. https://ballotpedia.org/Party_control_of_Iowa_state_government.
[5] Tallal, Skylar. “IA GOP expands majority at the statehouse, trifecta continues for 7th year in a row.” Iowa News Now. November 10. 2022. https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/ia-gop-expands-majority-at-the-statehouse-trifecta-continues-for-7th-year-in-a-row.
[6] Bowen, Jenifer. “Is The Pro-Life Movement “Dying” In Iowa?” Caffeinated Thoughts. August 20. 2018. https://caffeinatedthoughts.com/2018/08/is-the-pro-life-movement-dying-in-iowa.
[7] Yeh, Becky. “Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signs bill banning abortions after 20 weeks into law.” Live Action. May 5. 2017. https://www.liveaction.org/news/iowa-gov-terry-branstad-signs-bill-banning-abortions-20-weeks-law.
[8] The Iowa Legislature. “BillBook: Senate File 359.” The Iowa Legislature. May 4. 2018. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=87&ba=H-8441.
[9] Petroski, William and Pfannenstiel, Brianne. “The nation's strictest abortion ban is now law. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs 'fetal heartbeat' bill.” The Des Moines Register. May 4. 2018. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/04/abortion-ban-law-iowa-fetal-heartbeat/577443002.
[10] Gruber-Miller, Stephen. “Judge temporarily blocks Iowa's 'fetal heartbeat' law while lawsuit is resolved.” The Des Moines Register. June 1. 2018. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2018/06/01/fetal-heartbeat-abortion-law-lawsuit-challenge-injunction-planned-parenthood-thomas-more-court/659529002.
[11] KCRG Staff. “Gov. Reynolds asks Iowa Supreme Court to lift injunction on fetal heartbeat bill.” KCRG Staff. February 14. 2023. https://www.kcrg.com/2023/02/14/gov-reynolds-asks-iowa-supreme-court-lift-injunction-fetal-heartbeat-bill.
[12] Bowen, Jenifer. “Iowa Fetal Heartbeat Law and Its History.” Society of St. Sebastian. February 1. 2023. https://www.societyofstsebastian.org/ia-heartbeat-law-history-bowen.
[13] Akin, Katie and Morris, William. “Iowa Supreme Court says fundamental right to abortion not guaranteed under state constitution.” Des Moines Register. June 17. 2022. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2022/06/17/iowa-supreme-court-abortion-law-ruling-planned-parenthood-kim-reynolds/7646049001.
[14] United States Supreme Court. “Dobbs, State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health, Et Al. v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Et Al.” United States Supreme Court. June 24. 2022. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf.
[15] Bowen, Jenifer. “Abortion across America’s Heartland: Are preborn children safer since Roe’s fall?” Live Action. October 23. 2022. https://www.liveaction.org/news/abortion-across-americas-heartland-preborn-roe.
[16] Tallal, Skylar. “IA Planned Parenthood clinics after the fall of Roe v Wade: ‘Its been really overwhelming.’” Iowa News Now. July 22. 2022.
[17] KCRG. “Iowa Planned Parenthood clinics seeing influx of patients from out of state.” KCCI. August 3. 2022.
[18] Surrency, Justin. “SUPCO ruling creates new position at Planned Parenthood.” WHO-13. June 29. 2022. https://who13.com/news/supco-ruling-creates-new-navigator-position-for-planned-parenthood.
[19] Richardson, Ian. “Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds: No plans to call special legislative session on abortion.” Des Moines Register. June 29. 2022. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2022/06/29/iowa-governor-kim-reynolds-not-planning-special-legislative-session-abortion/7768579001.
[20] Bowen, Jenifer, “Pro-life groups ask judge to lift injunction on Iowa’s ‘heartbeat law.’” Live Action. November 2. 2022. https://www.liveaction.org/news/pro-life-groups-judge-injunction-iowa-heartbeat.
[21] White, Lauren. “Red wave hits Iowa in clean sweep for Republicans holding federal office.” The Daily Iowan. November 10. 2022.
[22] Sostaric, Katarina. “Iowa Republican leaders say they want to wait for court ruling before restricting abortion.” Iowa Public Radio. December 21. 2022. https://www.iowapublicradio.org/state-government-news/2022-12-21/iowa-republican-leaders-wait-court-ruling-before-restricting-abortion-legislature.
[23] Hytrek, Nikoel. “Iowa Republican Who Had Three Abortions Calls For Total Abortion Ban.” Iowa Starting Line. February 7. 2023.
[24] Henderson, O. Kay. “Abortion opponents call for ‘life at conception’ law to ban all abortions.” Radio Iowa. February 6. 2023.
[25] The Iowa Legislature. “BillBook: House File 510.” The Iowa Legislature. February 28. 2023. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=HF510&ga=90.
[26] The Iowa Legislature. “BillBook: House File 510.” The Iowa Legislature. February 28. 2023. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=HF510&ga=90.
[27] The Iowa Legislature. “BillBook: Senate File 359.” The Iowa Legislature. May 4. 2018.
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=87&ba=sf359.
[28] Prigg, Mark. “A baby's first heartbeat is just 16 days after conception: Breakthrough could lead to new cures for congenital disease.” www.DailyMail.com. October 11. 2016. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3833015/A-baby-s-heart-beats-just-16-days-conception-Heartbeat-breakthrough-lead-new-cures-congenital-disease.html.
[29] Bowen, Jenifer. “Abortion across America’s Heartland: Are preborn children safer since Roe’s fall?” Live Action. October 23. 2022.
https://www.liveaction.org/news/abortion-across-americas-heartland-preborn-roe.
[30] The Iowa Legislature. “BillBook: House File 510.” The Iowa Legislature. February 28. 2023. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=HF510&ga=90.
[31] Knepper, Hollie, Scott, Ryan and Sommers, Zach. “What does 'funnel week' mean in the Iowa Legislature?” March 1. 2021. https://www.weareiowa.com/article/news/local/local-politics/funnel-week-iowa-state-capitol-legislature-bills-laws-committees-senate-house/524-766dc1f3-cff9-4f51-9e3a-7dd3f2b64e2d.
[32] Knepper, Hollie, Scott, Ryan and Sommers, Zach. “What does 'funnel week' mean in the Iowa Legislature?” March 1. 2021. https://www.weareiowa.com/article/news/local/local-politics/funnel-week-iowa-state-capitol-legislature-bills-laws-committees-senate-house/524-766dc1f3-cff9-4f51-9e3a-7dd3f2b64e2d.
[33] The Iowa Legislature. “BillBook: House File 510.” The Iowa Legislature. February 28. 2023. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=HF510&ga=90.
[34] Heinitz, Lexi and Miller, Emory. “Speaker Grassley: Proposed Abortion Ban Is Not Leadership's Outline.” WHO Newsradio 1040AM. March 6. 2023. https://whoradio.iheart.com/content/2023-03-06-speaker-grassley-proposed-abortion-ban-is-not-leaderships-outline.
[35] Heinitz, Lexi and Miller, Emory. “Speaker Grassley: Proposed Abortion Ban Is Not Leadership's Outline.” WHO Newsradio 1040AM. March 6. 2023.
[36] Gruber-Miller, Stephen. “20 GOP lawmakers file bill to ban all Iowa abortions. Why their leaders say it won't pass.” The Des Moines Register. February 28. 2023.
[37] The Iowa Legislature. “BillBook: Senate File 359.” The Iowa Legislature. May 4. 2018. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=87&ba=H-8441.
[38] The Iowa Legislature. “BillBook: House File 146.” The Iowa Legislature. January 30. 2023.
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=HF146&ga=90.
[39] White, Lauren. “Red wave hits Iowa in clean sweep for Republicans holding federal office.” The Daily Iowan. November 10. 2022.
[40] Legislative Services Agency. “90th Iowa General Assembly Session Timetable 2023.” Legislative Services Agency. January 9. 2023. current.pdf (iowa.gov).
[41] The Iowa Legislature. “BillBook: House File 510.” The Iowa Legislature. February 28. 2023. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=HF510&ga=90.
[42] The Iowa Legislature. “BillBook: Senate File 359.” The Iowa Legislature. May 4. 2018. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=87&ba=H-8441.
[43] Richardson, Ian. “Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds: No plans to call special legislative session on abortion.” Des Moines Register. June 29. 2022. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2022/06/29/iowa-governor-kim-reynolds-not-planning-special-legislative-session-abortion/7768579001.
[44] The Iowa Legislature. “BillBook: Senate File 359.” The Iowa Legislature. May 4. 2018. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=87&ba=H-8441.
[45] Heinitz, Lexi and Miller, Emory. “Speaker Grassley: Proposed Abortion Ban Is Not Leadership's Outline.” WHO Newsradio 1040AM. March 6. 2023.
[46] Opsahl, Robin. “Lawmakers rush over 100 bills through subcommittees ahead of ‘funnel’ deadline.” Iowa Capital Dispatch. March 1. 2023.
[47] Opsahl, Robin. “Lawmakers rush over 100 bills through subcommittees ahead of ‘funnel’ deadline.” Iowa Capital Dispatch. March 1. 2023.
[48] State of Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. “Health Statistics, Data and Publications.”
https://hhs.iowa.gov/health-statistics/data.
[49] State of Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. “Health Statistics, Data and Publications.”
https://hhs.iowa.gov/health-statistics/data.
[50] KCCI-Channel 8. “Iowa Department of Public Health: Number of abortions dropped in Iowa last year.” KCCI-Channel 8. August 3. 2022.
[51] State of Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. “Health Statistics, Data and Publications.”
https://hhs.iowa.gov/health-statistics/data.
[52] State of Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. “Health Statistics, Data and Publications.”
https://hhs.iowa.gov/health-statistics/data.
[53] State of Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. “Health Statistics, Data and Publications.”
https://hhs.iowa.gov/health-statistics/data.
[54] Heinitz, Lexi and Miller, Emory. “Speaker Grassley: Proposed Abortion Ban Is Not Leadership's Outline.” WHO Newsradio 1040AM. March 6. 2023. https://whoradio.iheart.com/content/2023-03-06-speaker-grassley-proposed-abortion-ban-is-not-leaderships-outline.
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