Iowa House Democrats announce abortion rights proposals

DES MOINES — Iowa House Democrats called for strong protections for abortion rights Monday, unveiling proposed legislation that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution and expand family planning resources.

The effort, which comes after a deadline for most proposed bills to be passed out of a legislative committee, is unlikely to advance in the Republican-controlled Iowa House and Senate, but it’s one of a few key pieces of legislation House Democrats have announced this year to draw contrast with the majority party.

“Every Iowan deserves the right to make their own health care decisions, especially when it comes to reproductive care and abortion,” House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights said in a news conference Monday.

The minority party released the text of four bills they plan to introduce:

• Amend Iowa’s Constitution to guarantee the right to an abortion and other reproductive health care.

• Allow people to access birth control pills and some other forms of contraceptive without a prescription.

• Extend Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months.

• Restore family planning programs under Medicaid.

Konfrst said the introducing the bills was a “loud and clear message” that Democrats support abortion rights. An October Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found that 61 percent of Iowans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

“It’s always the right time to talk about reproductive freedom, and it’s always the right time to tell Iowans that one party stands firmly with them, with the majority of Iowans, in defending their rights to make their own health care decisions," Konfrst said.

Abortion rights amendment

The constitutional amendment would add the right to “reproductive freedom,” including abortion care, to Iowa’s bill of rights. It also includes prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, miscarriage management and infertility care in the definition of reproductive freedom.

The amendment says the state can regulate abortion after fetal viability, which is generally considered to be 23 weeks to 24 weeks.

As a constitutional amendment, the proposal would need to be passed by two consecutive General Assemblies before going on a statewide ballot for Iowans to vote on.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa praised the proposal on Monday, along with the other bills, saying they would expand and protect abortion rights.

“It’s empowering to see Iowa lawmakers standing up for the people they serve and working to protect and expand Iowans’ rights and access to health care, including abortion, instead of continuing to burn down what used to be a strong system of access to all reproductive health care," said Mazie Stilwell, the organization's public affairs director.

Abortion in Iowa is currently legal for up to 20 weeks. The Iowa Supreme Court is weighing a request from Gov. Kim Reynolds to reinstate a 2018 law that banned abortion after cardiac activity was detected in a fetus, usually around six weeks.

That law was struck down as unconstitutional in 2018, but a pair of key court decisions at the federal and state level last summer reshaped the legal landscape around abortion, and Reynolds is asking the court to reconsider the constitutionality of the law.

Republican leaders have said they want to wait until the outcome of that decision before passing any new restrictions on abortion.

Still, a group of 20 House Republicans introduced a “life at conception act” that would outlaw abortion completely, but that bill did not get a subcommittee hearing.

“Until we see what the court does, I don't think you’re going to see any actions on any pieces of legislation,” Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford told reporters this month.

Birth control

Democrats’ proposal to allow prescription-free birth control is likely to find support across the aisle, though in a different form under a sprawling health care bill proposed by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Under the bill proposed by Democrats, pharmacists could dispense birth control pills, vaginal rings or contraceptive patches to patients without a prescription, using a standing order under the Department of Health and Human Services. Pharmacists would be required to complete a training program and obtain a self-screening form from prospective patients.

In Reynolds’ health care bill, birth control would be allowed to patients over age 18; the Democratic version has no age limit. Under the Republican proposal, a woman would have to meet with a doctor within 27 months after receiving birth control; the Democrats’ proposal contains no follow-up requirement.

Konfrst said Democrats would be willing to support that part of the GOP bill if it were a separate bill. The Senate passed a version of the governor's health care bill last week with bipartisan support.

Medicaid changes

Two more bills proposed by Democrats would increase the length of postpartum coverage under Medicaid and bring back a discontinued Medicaid program that provided family planning services.

Postpartum coverage under Medicaid in Iowa is offered for 60 days, the minimum set by federal law. A provision in the American Rescue Plan Act gave states the option to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months.

More than 30 states have implemented the extension or are planning to, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The proposal would cost around $5.6 million in the coming year, and $8.9 million the following year, according to a draft of the bill.

Another bill would bring back the Iowa Family Planning Network, a federally funded program that provided family planning resources, including through clinics that provide abortion.

In 2017 lawmakers discontinued the program, forgoing $3 million in federal funding, and instead directed $3.4 million to a state-funded family planning program that excluded clinics that provide abortions. Under the Democrats’ bill, the program would be restored to its 2017 status, and the state-funded family planning program would be dismantled.

“Both of these programs, by the way, will bring our federal tax dollars back into the state, and they will be used to make sure that women and Iowans can receive the services that they need and remain healthy,” Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, a Democrat from Ames, said.

Comments: cmccullough@qctimes.com