Iowa legislators: Tell me why my daughter’s life ceased to matter to you the day she was born

When a child is raped, the abuse has often been occurring for years. “By the time a 10- or 11-year-old comes into the clinic, the pregnancy could be three or four months along,” Rep. Megan Srinivas talks about the difficulties they face intervening in situations where abuse is covered up by adults, and when it is a source of shame for children and other victims of rape. These victims already have the odds stacked against them, and legislators last week just stacked them even higher.

My own daughter has recently started asking questions about her period. We were out of state on vacation, and I was unable to be at the Capitol on July 11. But it was hard to avoid the proceedings in Iowa. Despite our Maine adventures, all day I saw the emotional testimonies come through on my news feed. When I heard Rep. Sherman say ‘Everyone is free not to have sex. Maybe they shouldn’t have sex; it’s that simple’ my blood boiled. To think about the possibility — God forbid- of my own daughter experiencing a similar assault, and being forced by the state to carry and deliver a baby took an emotional toll on me. Unfortunately, sir, everyone is NOT free to avoid having sex. The statistics overwhelmingly disprove this notion. The inability of our legislators to grasp the multitude of painful situations that we face — and the fact that no one should be forced to carry to term an unplanned pregnancy — is staggering.

Abortion up to 22 weeks is once again legal, thanks to the injunction granted by an Iowa District Court that temporarily blocks HF 732, the so called fetal “heartbeat” bill. The hypocrisy of the “Cherish All Lives” rhetoric after a slew of related harmful legislation that cuts off resources and targets marginalized populations has already been discussed. But the consequences for the health of Iowans are numerous enough to receive dedicated time and attention.

In a state that already has poor maternal mortality outcomes, we are jeopardizing all birthing people by continuing to attack what the World Health Organization describes as a “simple and common health care procedure.”

“We are already dead last when it comes to OB/GYNs available per person — one reason why we have such poor outcomes. We have great people who work in the field, but providers don’t want to have to choose whether to save their patients’ life or lose their license” says Srinivas, one of only two doctors — and the only female doctor — in Iowa’s House of Representatives. Dr. Amy Bingaman, an OB/GYN at Broadlawns agrees. “It will be hard to recruit to residency programs, which is how we attract many new providers,” and is how she landed in Iowa. Additionally, the lack of guidance and flexibility around the emergency medical exemptions are problematic. “I have seen patients diagnosed with cancer and cardiomyopathy who get pregnant due to contraceptive failure. They are not going to die that day, but they will die if they cannot get chemo or other necessary care.”

Even considering maternal mortality related to labor and delivery alone, experts project maternal mortality rates to rise by over 24 percent with complete bans on the procedure, and for Black women the situation is even worse as death rates are already approaching three times those of white women.

“We gave (Republicans) a pathway to show that they truly care for the life of the mother and those who experience rape and incest, as they proclaimed to care about,” Rep. Srinivas said of the amendments proposed by Democrats. “There really should not be time limits for rape and incest — 63 percent of those who face rape don’t ever report (to police). At 45 days, most don’t know if they are pregnant. There were no exceptions made for age” — one amendment specified that children 12 and under shouldn’t be required to give birth, “and even for 10 or 11-year-olds, the law exempts mental health and emotional well-being from the emergency medical exemption. Even the bill passed in Florida allows for this.”

In Iowa, suicide is one of the top three pregnancy related causes of deaths among all birthing people.

Needless to say, all amendments to protect Iowans’ health were voted down along party lines.

Despite the very real potential of a health care provider mass exodus from Iowa, Dr. Bingaman will not be one of the providers leaving Iowa. When asked if she would change the way she practices due to HF 732, she readily responded yes. “Any nurse is instructed that for anyone calling for Long-Acting Reversible Contraception or sterilization — I don’t care how full my schedule is, work them in.”

So, what can we do? We haven’t seen the last of this push to further reduce health care access in Iowa.

According to the ACLU of Iowa, those 61 percent of Iowans who want to maintain reproductive health rights can be plugged into the ACLU of Iowa's reproductive rights work by joining their reproductive rights network.

“Our top ask for folks at this point is to join their local ACLU reproductive rights advocacy team. We are connecting volunteers in legislative districts across the state with each other, and these volunteer teams are organizing to hold their Iowa state legislators accountable” said Erica Dubin-Barz, Community Engagement associate of the ACLU of Iowa. “We also encourage folks who are able to donate to the Iowa Abortion Access Fund.”

The typical girl will have her first period at twelve and a half years, but children as young as 10 are able to start menstruating, and therefore, get pregnant. Age at onset of puberty is decreasing, heightening the risk of this legislation for our youth. A child that is under 12, along with anyone who is forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy, most certainly will not have the “Freedom to Flourish” in Iowa if this law resurfaces.

Chris Espersen is a Gazette Editorial Fellow. chris.espersen@thegazette.com