Bohannan, Miller-Meeks discuss abortion, immigration in Iowa District 1 debate

JOHNSTON — Christina Bohannan and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the major-party candidates for Congress in Southeastern Iowa’s 1st District, challenged each other’s positions and voting records on abortion and immigration throughout a televised debate this week.

Miller-Meeks, the Republican incumbent, is running for a third, two-year term in the U.S. House. Bohannan, the Democratic challenger, is running to replace her.

The campaign is a rematch of the 2022 congressional election, when Miller-Meeks defeated Bohannan by roughly 7 percentage points.

Recently, some national elections forecasters have changed their classification of the 1st Congressional District election to a toss-up — after previously projecting the campaign with a Republican lean. The Cook Political Report, Fox News and Inside Elections now consider Iowa’s 1st District a true toss-up. But some forecasters, including Sabato’s Crystal Ball, still list the 1st District as leaning Republican.

As has been the case in federal elections across the country, abortion and immigration policies have emerged as dominant discussions in Iowa’s 1st District.

The candidates debate abortion policy

During an hourlong debate Monday night televised statewide by Iowa PBS in Johnston, Bohannan continued to criticize Miller-Meeks for her support of legislation that was never passed but as written would have defined life as beginning at conception.

The Life At Conception Act would have criminalized abortions and did not contain any exceptions. Miller-Meeks cosponsored the legislation in the 2021-2022 Congress, but she did not sponsor similar legislation when it was introduced in the current Congress.

“She has now tried to back track from that saying she supports exceptions and things,” Bohannan asserted during the debate. “It’s election time so she’s trying to moderate that position, which is obviously out of step with Iowans.”

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Miller-Meeks responded that she is “pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.” She previously told The Gazette she believes a consensus could be built around a federal law that would ban abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. But during the debate, she said she does not “see federal legislation coming down the road any time soon.”

Miller-Meeks countered with a charge that Bohannan has refused to say whether she wants any limits on abortions. Bohannan has said she wants to return abortion policy to where it was nationwide under Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that created the legal framework for federal abortion policy before it was struck down in 2022.

Under the framework created by Roe v. Wade — which is what Bohannan has called for — states could not ban abortions before a fetus could survive outside the womb, which typically occurs around 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy. The framework allowed for some restrictions in the second trimester.

Miller-Meeks said she wants to seek areas of abortion policy on which there is consensus, listing as examples bans on federal funding for abortions and “easy access to affordable contraception for women.”

Candidates debate immigration policy

On immigration, Miller-Meeks charged that Bohannan and Democrats have been late to the conversation, that they have not prioritized immigration policy until more voters demanded it.

“My opponent didn’t mention the border, didn’t say anything about the border, didn’t say the border should be secure until it became a political liability for her and her party,” Miller-Meeks said of Bohannan.

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Miller-Meeks said she supports immigration policies implemented by former President Donald Trump — who is again seeking election this year as the Republican nominee — and were ended under Democrat President Joe Biden.

Previously, in an interview with The Gazette, Miller-Meeks criticized the Biden administration for ending the “remain in Mexico” policy that required some asylum-seekers be sent back to Mexico during preliminary immigration proceedings, and Title 42, which used a public health emergency law in the COVID-19 pandemic to prohibit border crossings to prevent the virus’ spread.

Bohannan during the debate said the United States “must secure the border” and acknowledged Biden “was too slow to act on the border.” She also criticized Miller-Meeks and fellow Republicans for not passing immigration policy legislation that was drafted as a compromised between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate.

National media reports said Trump ordered congressional Republicans to kill the bill to avoid the bill passing under Biden.

Miller-Meeks pointed out the bill never passed the Senate and thus never came up in the House, She instead advocated for immigration legislation passed by House Republicans.

“We had a golden opportunity recently to pass the strictest border security bill that we have seen in this country in a very long time, maybe ever,” Bohannan said. “This is what we see over and over: not doing something that could actually be good for people and then trying to find political cover, signing onto some fake bill or something to make it look like she’s doing something. But we could have solved this problem. And I think that (Congressional Republicans) have lost all credibility on this issue.”

Election Day is Nov. 5. Early voting in Iowa is underway.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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