Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate have voted for what would be the country’s most restrictive anti-abortion policy if the governor signs it into law. After nine hours of debate, 51 Republicans in the House approved a bill that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, about the sixth week of a pregnancy. Representative Shannon Lundgren, a Republican from Peosta, acknowledges the bill is designed to challenge Roe v Wade, the decision that legalized abortion.
She says the bill draws an important line.
Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, called the bill “anti-woman.”
The bill would allow abortions AFTER the sixth week of pregnancy in limited circumstances, such as a medical emergency, a fetal abnormality or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. The bill also would ban selling or donating fetal tissue from abortions or still births for medical research.
