CAMPAIGN ALMANAC: Marianette Miller-Meeks clarifies abortion stance

A new ad from the Democratic challenger in the southeast Iowa congressional race claims U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks “wants to outlaw all abortions nationwide. No exceptions for rape, incest, or to save a woman’s life.”

The U.S. Supreme Court this summer overturned Roe v. Wade and the federal guarantee of access to abortion. It has spurred public debate over restrictions on abortion — an issue returned to the states — and is seen as a key issue by Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.

Miller-Meeks said in a September debate and has said in interviews that she supports exceptions for rape, incest and a woman’s life in laws limiting access to abortion. She endorsed a bill from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that would prohibit abortion after 15 weeks with those exceptions.

Christina Bohannan’s ad refers to Miller-Meeks’ co-sponsoring the Life at Conception Act, a House proposal with 163 Republican co-sponsors that would guarantee a constitutional “right to life of each born and pre-born human person” from the moment of fertilization, without exceptions.

In an interview last week with the Quad-City Times, Miller-Meeks was asked about co-sponsoring that bill.

“I think that you can recognize medically that life begins at conception and still have exceptions, as I've already noted,” she said. “So again, my long-held position in multiple public interviews has been I'm pro-life, with exceptions for life of the mother, rape and incest.”

Bohannan continues in the ad: “I never imagined my daughter would grow up having fewer rights than I had. I’m fighting to protect our right to choose. When it comes to our bodies, women should be in charge, not Washington politicians.”

KINNEY CELEBRATES “NOAH’S LAW”: State Sen. Kevin Kinney, a Democrat from Oxford, released his second ad of the election cycle, highlighting his work on a law honoring a Tiffin teen who drowned in the Coralville Lake in 2020.

When Noah Herring drowned in 2020, the people with him did not call for help, according to reports at the time, and did not tell the Johnson County Sheriff’s office where his body was.

In the ad, Noah’s cousin, Amber Herring, sitting with his mother Lisa Herring, tells the story of getting the law passed.

“We reached out to Sen. Kevin Kinney, who helped us pass a law so that what our family went through, another family does not have to go through,” she says.

The ad was paid for by the Iowa Democratic Party.

The law, signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2021, makes it a crime to not call emergency responders when someone appears to be in imminent danger and increases penalties for not telling authorities the location of a corpse.

Three juveniles and one adult were charged with lesser crimes related to Herring’s death, but failing to alert authorities was not a crime at the time.

In a statement, Kinney said the law was a bipartisan effort, and the legislation was written with input from Herring’s family.

“I then worked across the aisle to get Noah’s Law passed unanimously,” he said. “I’m honored to have the support of Noah’s family, and I will continue to work to protect crime victims and their families in the state Senate.”

GRASSLEY ANNOUNCES FARMERS COALITION: Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley's campaign announced the county chairs of the Farmers for Grassley Coalition, a group of farmers who support Grassley’s re-election in November.

The campaign previously announced the leadership of the group, which includes Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, former presidents of the Iowa Farm Bureau and Iowa Corn Growers Association, and former Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey.

The list includes farmers from all of Iowa’s 99 counties. Grassley also announced a veterans’ coalition from the 99 counties in September.

“Congress will rewrite the Farm Bill next year, and we need a farmer to represent our interests in the U.S. Senate,” Larry Madson, Shelby County farm chair, said in a news release from the campaign. “ … Chuck is the strong voice we need to strengthen and sustain the family farm for generations to come. Iowa agriculture needs Chuck fighting for us more than ever.”

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau