Recent news reports have been full of successful efforts to roll back the funding for, and actual instances of, abortion in, among others, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Indiana. Why have these same media outlets failed to devote an adequate amount of attention to an effort in Iowa to ensure that more innocent lives are lost to abortion—not saved from it?
Of course, no one can be sure as to why recent actions taken by the Iowa State Senate are vastly underreported. It is certain, however, that if the Senate bill is adopted by the House and signed by the governor, many innocent children will pay the price.
In an effort to prevent a Nebraska abortionist from opening a late-term abortion clinic in the city of Council Bluffs, the Iowa House of Representatives passed legislation banning all late-term abortions, which are defined as all abortions coming after a pregnancy has reached twenty weeks.
The Iowa Senate has recently taken up the issue and has passed its own alternative. Unfortunately, the Senate bill in no way protects the lives of unborn children. This is despite the efforts of many to parade the legislation as being pro-life.
The fact of the matter is that the Senate’s version is absolutely anti-life. In fact, it further institutionalizes the abhorrent practice. Instead of limiting the availability of abortion to only the first twenty weeks of a pregnancy, the Senate bill would create a formal permit process for independent late-term abortion clinics. The Senate bill would prevent a late-term abortion clinic from being built in Council Bluffs because it would require a “free standing” late-term abortion clinic to be built near a hospital treating premature infants.
So, the basic premise is that the Senate wants to have its cake and eat it too. Its leadership wants to appear pro-life in that they are taking action to prevent the construction of an unpopular late-term abortion clinic. At the same time, the leadership plans to further institutionalize late-term abortions—essentially ensuring the appearance of an independent late-term abortion clinic at a more convenient moment.
The Senate bill simply cannot become law if innocent lives are to be saved. How tragic it would be for Iowa to further institutionalize the destruction of innocent life while claiming to protect it.
Gov. Terry Branstand succinctly summed up the issue when he noted that if the Senate bill were adopted “Iowa [would] become the late term abortion capitol of the Midwest.”
Don’t be fooled by reports that the Iowa Senate voted to protect the lives of the unborn. Instead, examine the facts and notice the duplicitous, and anti-life, nature of the Senate leadership’s actions.
Read the Life News article for information on the Iowa House of Representative’s response to the Senate bill.
Yes, I want to receive up-to-the-minute email updates on the latest pro-life news and opportunities for me to take action to serve women and save babies.
