An Iowa House committee has voted to set new restrictions for medications that induce abortions. The bill would require a doctor to give the pills to a patient in a medical setting.
Representative Devon Wood, a Republican from New Market, said the bill would ensure all planned abortions in Iowa are attended by a physician who is licensed by the state. “and not an illegal, illicit drug activity coming from who knows where.”
The bill calls for doctors and hospitals to report any serious complications from medication abortions. Wood said that might help authorities track down black market sales. “There are folks out there who are, I’m going to loosely use the word ‘dispensing,’ giving unlicensed, unregulated, potentially out of state or even out of country medications that we have no idea what’s in them,” Wood said, adding she’s open to making changes in the reports to ensure data that could identify a patient’s location isn’t disclosed.
The bill was approved by the House Human Services Committee earlier this year, but failed to clear a procedural deadline, so the House Appropriations Committee approved it last night, making it eligible for House debate. All the Democrats on the panel opposed it. “If this is really an important issue to talk about medication by mail, then let’s talk about all medication by mail…If this bill were truly were just about medication by mail, then the bill would look very different,” Representative Heather Matson, a Democrat from Ankeny said.
Representative Adam Zabner, a Democrat from Iowa City, said the bill doesn’t address the primary concerns of Iowans. “You are chipping and chipping and chipping away at the basic freedoms of everyday Iowans who just want some help accessing health care,” Zabner said.
Representative Zach Dieken, a Republican from Granville who supports a ban on all abortions in Iowa has filed an amendment to the bill that would classify abortion as a crime. There would be exceptions for miscarriages or if there had been an unsuccessful attempt to save the life of the pregnant woman or the unborn child.