Iowa lawmakers take up abortion fight

(AP) - Iowa lawmakers are drafting a bill similar to a restrictive Nebraska abortion law to prevent a Nebraska doctor who performs late-term abortions from opening a clinic just across the states' border in Council Bluffs.

A new law that bans abortions after 20 weeks, except in cases where the mother's life is at risk, went into effect in Nebraska on Oct. 15. The law led Dr. LeRoy Carhart to announce plans to open a clinic in Iowa, where abortions are banned after the sixth month of pregnancy, unless the mother's health or life is endangered. Council Bluffs is just 5 miles east of Omaha, Neb.

Several anti-abortion lawmakers in Iowa said they're writing legislation to toughen the state's abortion laws. They are motivated by Carhart's announcement and gains Republicans made in the mid-term election, where they took control of the Iowa House and closed the gap in Senate.

Rep. Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, a board member of Iowa Right to Life, said: "I'm taking on the fight of Dr. LeRoy Carhart to keep him out of my state."

Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said it's too early to know how the Senate would vote on such a bill. Gronstal, who has previously expressed support for a woman's right to choose, said he would wait and see whether such a bill survives the legislative process.

Nebraska's law is based on the idea that fetuses begin to feel pain after 20 weeks. It is a departure from the standard of viability - generally considered to be between 22 and 24 weeks - established by the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe vs. Wade. Viability refers to when a fetus can survive outside the womb and marks the point when states can ban abortion.

Windschitl, who will be an assistant majority leader when the Legislature convenes next month, said he will push to craft legislation similar to Nebraska's law.

"At the end of the day, my personal agenda, and if I had a magic wand, one of the things I would do is to stop abortion in the state of Iowa, but it is a step-by-step process," Windschitl said.

Jordan Goldberg, the State Advocacy Counsel for the U.S. Legal Program at the Center for Reproductive Rights in Washington, said her group believes Nebraska's law is unconstitutional.

Carhart said in November that he plans to open clinics in Council Bluffs, Indianapolis and the suburbs of Washington.

Republican Gov.-elect Terry Branstad, who was active in his previous four terms to limit abortion, said Tuesday that he didn't know anything about Carhart's plan to move to Iowa.

Senate President Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg, isn't sure a bill would be debated.

"I don't think we ought to have abortion clinics in Iowa for late-term abortions, but I also think there are a lot more important things we ought to address in the Legislature for middle-income Iowans," Kibbie said.

House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said such a bill would likely get close consideration by lawmakers.

Sen. David Johnson, R-Ocheyedan, said he will work to see that a bill advances.

"I'm concerned about the possibility of an expansion of late-term abortions being done in this state," Johnson said. "That, to me, is an outrage."