An Iowa House subcommittee has approved a bill that would mandate that Iowa providers of medication abortions post a sign saying that it may be possible to reverse the effects of an abortion-inducing drug. The bill also calls on those providers to give patients a printed copy of the same information.
“If this bill becomes law, here’s the bottom line: some real life future person with real life flesh and real life blood will some day look back to this bill as the reason they survived pregnancy,” Jeff Pitts, a lobbyist for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, said during Tuesday’s subcommittee hearing.
Opponents say the bill would require giving women inaccurate information. Dane Schumann, a lobbyist for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said the bill means doctors could be sanctioned or lose their medical license for sharing information that’s not backed up by research.
“The one that was undertaken in 2020 which had the makings of being a strong and rigorous study was abandoned…before it was completed because of hemorrhaging that many women were experiencing from taking the abortion reversal drugs,” Schumann said.
The bill also could give Iowa’s attorney general a new legal basis for lawsuits challenging out of state doctors who prescribe abortion pills that are mailed to Iowans.
“That’s a really important issue,” said Ryan Benn legal counsel for The Family Leader, an evangelical Christian group. “We need to protect women and girls from the dangers of abortion drugs.”
Becca Eastwood of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa said the bill places unnecessary restrictions on obtaining medication which can end a pregnancy.
“Simply put, this bill is an example of the government intruding on women’s rights and the rights of all Iowans to make our own decisions,” Eastwood said.
The bill says abortion-inducing drugs must be administered in a health care setting in Iowa — which would make sending abortion pills through the mail to an Iowa address illegal.