Wednesday Morning Read: Birth control, bottle bill, Trump speech and basketball

BIRTH CONTROL ACCESS: A Republican-sponsored bill that wants to establish that life begins at conception also could severely limit women's access to birth control, health care experts say. The so-called personhood bill is careful to say that it is not intended to prohibit the use of any means of contraception. But once you start unpacking the definitions within the bill, that's exactly what could happen, some say. Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/health-care-medicine/personhood-bill-could-limit-iowans-access-to-birth-control-experts-say/

BOTTLE BILL AND RECYCLING: Backers of legislation to replace Iowa's bottle bill say a new comprehensive, statewide recycling strategy would more fully attain the goals of the 39-year-old law. The current bottle deposit law addresses just 3 percent of material in the waste stream 'and we think we can do much, much better,' Michelle Hurd of the Iowa Grocery Association said Tuesday. Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/government-politics/replacing-iowas-bottle-deposit-law-would-increase-recycling-backers-say/

TRUMP SPEECH: President Donald Trump sought to rally a divided nation behind his nationalist agenda Tuesday, outlining goals to reform the tax code, overhaul the health care system and secure the country in a sweeping speech that was high on ambition but often short on details. Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/nation-world/trump-begins-laying-out-his-agenda-to-congress-and-touts-his-promises-kept-so-far/

XAVIER TO SEMIS: Kiana Stanek couldn't believe Grinnell's perimeter generosity. 'I didn't think they were going to give me those shots,' said Stanek, who was more than willing to make the Tigers pay. Stanek scored a team-high 22 points, drilling 5 of 7 shots from behind the arc, and the sixth-ranked Saints made No. 3 Grinnell's state-tournament debut a brief one, 60-55, in a Class 4A quarterfinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/iowa-prep-sports/kiana-stanek-shoots-cedar-rapids-xavier-to-the-semis/

QUOTABLE: 'Forget all this silliness. Rescind the order. Go ahead and give these kids their scholarships and let them be.' — Lawyer Steve Wandro with Wandro & Associates, which along with the Erbe Law Firm in Des Moines filed one of at least two lawsuits this week against the University of Iowa, seeking class action status for it yanking scholarships from thousands of students to save money.