Bolkcom preparing for Senate abortion debate

DES MOINES – Iowa City Democratic Sen. Joe Bolkcom is preparing for an abortion debate that may or may not happen.

As lawmakers begin the push for adjournment, Bolkcom unexpectedly has been thrust into the role of managing a House-passed abortion bill that would get its first Senate look during floor debate due to a rarely used procedural measure that moved House File 657 from a stalled committee directly to the debate calendar.

While Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, had been noncommittal on the bill's future, he said Wednesday that “if and when it's ready on the floor, it will be taken up on the floor. Stay tuned.”

H.F. 657, a measure passed 60-39 by the Iowa House and supported by Gov. Terry Branstad that seeks to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, appeared on the regular Senate debate calendar for the first time Wednesday – a day after a withdrawal petition signed by all 24 Senate Republicans and two pro-life Democrats was filed with the secretary of the Senate to pull the measure from the Senate Government Oversight Committee.

Proponents say the bill is aimed it at stopping Nebraska Dr. LeRoy Carhart from opening a clinic in Council Bluffs, where he would support late-term abortions. Nebraska passed legislation last year making the practice illegal in that state and pro-life advocates warn that Iowa could become “the late-term abortion capital of the Midwest” if the General Assembly fails to enact the House-passed legislation this year.

Critics counter that the bill is too restrictive, arguing that, at 20 weeks, a woman is likely committed to the pregnancy and would only likely be choosing an abortion because of some medical condition. Five hospitals in the state perform abortions after the 20th week - they are located in Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Davenport.

Currently, Iowa law provides for abortions after the second trimester if a doctor decides the procedure is needed to “preserve the life or health” of the woman.

Bolkcom, who was tabbed by Gronstal as the bill's floor manager, said he is drafting amendments to make the House measure constitutional and to “make sure that we do everything we can to preserve the rights of women and families and their doctors to make the best health-care decisions possible for them and their families” without government interference.

“This clearly needs more work,” he said. “This is a very controversial issue. People have strong feelings on both sides of it. There's a lot left to be worked out here before anything gets to the governor. It's hard to predict.”

Sen. David Johnson, R-Ocheyedan, said the choice of Bolkcom to guide the floor debate was “a signal to me that maybe this isn't going to go” since the pro-choice Democrat was a member of a Senate subcommittee that refused to move five abortion-related bills he introduced this session. However, Johnson conceded that there were elements of the House bill that likely would get stripped out by senators.

Johnson said he expected the Senate would strike the word “immediate” from the bill's definition of a medical emergency that might create situations that could put a woman's life in danger, as well as removing medical facility language that would restrict abortions to only being performed in four or five locations in Iowa. He also expected the Senate would strip a provision that states “Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as determining life to begin at 20 weeks' gestation. Instead, it is recognized that life begins at fertilization.”

“There's certainly pressure from all over Iowa now to have a debate on this bill,” Johnson said. “The votes are here, the votes are in the Senate for this, I'm absolutely convinced of that. Iowans are overwhelmingly in favor of this passing. There are some changes that we could make to the House file that may be a better approach to winning support here for passage.”

Meanwhile Wednesday, Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn announced his party is urging people in Gronstal's Council Bluffs district to “auto-dial” Gronstal to demand a vote banning late-term abortions.

“Gronstal's obstructionism has escalated from denying the will of the people to threatening the lives of the unborn,” Strawn said. “The vast majority of his constituents have spoken clearly that they want an up or down vote to keep Dr. Carhart out their community and members of his own party are urging action. It's time for Gronstal to stand up for Iowa's unborn and not continue to hide behind legislative procedure.”

Gronstal said he outlined his beliefs in a statement that he made on the Senate floor Tuesday and he saw “no sense” in allowing “the other side … to get me engaged in a long debate in the newspapers.”

Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky responded to the GOP robo-calls by accusing Republicans of promoting an extreme, political agenda.

“Iowa Republicans have made it perfectly clear that they're willing to sacrifice a woman's health in a desperate attempt to lay the groundwork for the 2012 election,” Dvorsky said. “It's shameful that they are willing to exploit women at one of the most vulnerable points in their life: at a time when they are experiencing pregnancies that have gone tragically wrong. By paying to bombard the citizens of Council Bluffs, Republicans are revealing their true motives; attempting to win elections at all costs. They are willing to put politics over the health and safety of Iowa women.”