The Iowa House has passed a bill that would forbid doctors from remotely dispensing abortion-inducing drugs via a video-conferencing system. Representative Kevin Koester, a Republican from Ankeny, was among the 55 House members who voted for the bill.
“I support this bill for many reasons, primarily due to the unsafe practice that impacts the use of this technique for terminating pregnancies in our state,” Koester said during today’s debate of the bill.
Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeshell, a Democrat from Ames, disagreed.
“First night of debate in the Iowa House for this session and what do we have?” she asked. “A bill that’s limiting a woman’s right to choose.”
The bill is not likely to be considered in the Iowa Senate where Democrats control the debate agenda. The Iowa Board of Medicine voted last year to ban so-called tele-medicine abortions, but that decision is being challenged in court by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. A judge issued a temporary injunction which has prevented the Board of Medicine’s ban from going into effect.