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Chicago law firm tabbed to represent state in abortion law challenge

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State leaders have approved hiring the Chicago-based Thomas More Society law firm to represent it in the lawsuit that is challenging the new abortion law.

Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and the Emma Goldman Clinic filed suit last week, saying the restrictions of the new law make it a “virtual ban” on all abortions in the state. Democrat state Attorney General Tom Miller announced he would not defend the state in the lawsuit, saying that he “could not zealously assert the state’s position because of his core belief that the statute, if upheld, would undermine rights and protections for women.”

Chief Deputy Attorney General Eric Tabor says the executive council and legislators agreed the Thomas More Society would “do a good job.” “Because of their experience and the qualifications of their lawyers. And their desire to do it. Their zealous desire to defend the statute,” Tabor says. The executive council — which includes the Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Secretary of Agriculture and Governor — voted to hire the Thomas More Society. Governor Kim Reynolds was traveling and did not take part in the vote.

The law approved by Republican legislators and signed by Republican Reynolds, would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Tabor says “it’s his understanding” the outside law firm’s work will come at no cost to the state. He says the Thomas More Society would advise the state about moving forward with appeals.

“And we’d be in consultation with the governor’s office. We are the state, we are the client. But we would I think take advice from them about what they wanted to do in the case. They’re the lawyers,” Tabor says. Tabor says a contract will be signed ahead of the first hearing in the legal challenge, which is scheduled for June first.

(Iowa Public Radio’s Katarina Sostaric contributed to this story)

 

 

Lawsuit in state court seeks to block Iowa’s new abortion restriction (AUDIO)

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ACLU Legal Director Rita Betis.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa have filed a lawsuit challenging a new state law they say is a “virtual ban” on all abortions in the state.

The law approved by Republican legislators and signed by Republican Governor Kim Reynolds would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

“The law would ban abortions as soon as any cardiac activity is detected in an embryo and that typically happens at around six weeks in pregnancy. This is before many women even know that they’re pregnant,” Rita Bettis, legal director for the ACLU of Iowa, said during an early afternoon news conference in Des Moines. “Quite plainly, with this new law, Iowa politicians have tried to ban virtually all abortions in the state of Iowa.”

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland president and CEO Suzanna de Baca said Iowa women will be forced to go out-of-state to get an abortion.

“Or, even worse, we foresee that there would be patients would try to self-induce, often using dangerous or illegal means,” de Baca said, “and that is our biggest concern, the safety of our patients.”

The groups first are seeking a court order to prevent the law from taking effect on July 1. The lawsuit’s ultimate aim is to get Iowa’s Supreme Court to rule the law unconstitutional.

Emma Goldman Clinic co-director Francine Thompson.

“We think it’s extreme and outrageous,” said Francine Thompson, co-director of the Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City, the first outpatient abortion clinic in the state.

Thompson told reporters  the new law would be an “almost-complete ban” on abortions, as about two percent of the abortions at her clinic are preformed at or before the sixth week of a pregnancy.

“It’s a law that has been passed by politicians who are out of touch with the reality of women’s lives,” Thompson said.

AUDIO of news conference in ACLU of Iowa office, 25:00

The law would allow abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy in cases of rape if a women reports the crime within 45 days and in case of incest of the crime is reported within 140 days. Thompson said survivors of rape and incest risk getting kicked out of their home or being victimized again if they report the crime.

“We want politicians out of women’s lives and out of the exam room,” Thompson said. “This law must be struck down.”

The lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a doctor and patients at the Emma Goldman and Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa.

Governor Reynolds has announced a Chicago law firm called the Thomas More Society will provide the legal defense for the state’s new abortion restriction, so there will be “no cost to taxpayers.”

The legal challenge is starting in Polk County District Court. Whichever way the distic court rules, Bettis acknowledged the lawsuit will be challenged to the Iowa Supreme Court.

“The Iowa Supreme Court has long been a stalwart protector of individual rights, recognizing those rights under our Iowa constitution,” Bettis said, “…so in this case, we thought it was appropriate to bring this case in front of the Iowa court.”

The lawsuit’s claims are focused on the Iowa Constitution. That’s a tactical move to try to avoid having this case heard in federal courts, where it might wind up as a test case to overturn Roe v Wade.

“Iowa will not go back in time by taking away this right,” de Baca said. “Planned Parenthood is challenging this law because the Iowa Constitution is clear. A woman has the right to access a safe and legal abortion.”

Reynolds, who signed the new abortion law on May 4, said at the time she would not “back down” from a legal challenge.

“I believe that all innocent life is precious and sacred and, as governor, I have pledged to do everything in my power to protect it,” Reynolds said during the bill-signing ceremony in her statehouse office. “And that’s what I am doing.”

$7.4 billion state budget, $2 billion in tax cuts clear 2018 Iowa legislature

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Republican lawmakers passed a more than $2 billion plan to cut taxes over the next six years and they completed work on next year’s $7.4 billion state budget on Saturday. It was the 118th and final day of the 2018 Iowa legislative session.

With Republican Kim Reynolds in the governor’s office and Republicans in the majority in the House and Senate, the GOP controlled the legislature’s agenda. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake praised her GOP colleagues on Saturday.

“You all came together and time after time, you chose real change rather than defending the status quo,” Upmeyer said in a closing speech late Saturday afternoon. “…We stood together for the opportunity to improve the future of Iowa and you can go home to your communities proudly sharing our significant achievements.”

A year ago, in Republicans Governor Terry Branstad’s closing month’s in office, Republican legislators dramatically reduced union bargaining rights for public sector workers and passed a ban on abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. On Friday afternoon, Governor Kim Reynolds signed another bill that will basically ban most abortions in Iowa.

“For me, it’s immoral to stop an innocent, beating heart,” Reynolds said during a bill-signing ceremony in her formal office as protesters shouted outside. “…And, for me, my faith leads me to protect life.”

On Saturday, the Republican-led legislature dropped its plan to block federal funding to Planned Parenthood’s sex education programs for teenagers. The premiere action of the legislature’s last day, though, was passage of a massive tax plan that eventually will cut individual and corporate income taxes by 400-million dollars a year.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity I feel that we have today to ensure a prosperous for the future,” Representative Peter Cownie, a Republican from West Des Moines, said.

Democrats dismissed the GOP’s assertions that tax cuts will stimulate economic growth as make-believe “pixie dust” and Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames sid there will be a “flood tide of red ink” in the state budget.

“If this bill becomes law it will be the single most fiscally irresponsible bill in Iowa history,” Quirmbach said.

Mark Smith of Marshalltown, the Democratic leader in the Iowa House, faulted Republicans for keeping final details of the tax bill underwraps until the legislature’s closing hours.

“You chose to work behind closed doors with special interests instead,” Smith said late Saturday afternoon in a speech on the House floor. “The Iowans we represent deserve better.”

House Majority Leader Chris Hagenow, a Republican from Windsor Heights, the Republican-led legislature has taken “consequential” actions over the past two years.

“In November, 2016, Iowans entrusted Republicans to lead the House, Senate and the governor’s office,” Hagenow said in a speech on the closing day. “The message the voters sent was clear: they wanted smaller, smarter, more conservative government.”

The debate over that record will now shift out of the statehouse and onto the campaign trail. Voters in November will select 25 senators and 100 state representatives to serve in the legislature for the next two years.

Iowa legislature’s 2018 session concludes with tax plan passage

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Senate President Charles Schneider.

Republicans are using the words “consequential” and “historic” to describe the agenda Republican majorities in the Iowa House and Senate have enacted over the past two years.

“We seized the opportunity and I think we delivered really good things for Iowans,” House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake, said.

Senate President Charles Schneider, a Republican from West Des Moines, said the 2018 legislature’s premiere accomplishment is its “comprehensive” tax bill.

“This puts us on a path toward growth and prosperity,” Schneider said, “and hopefully it turns us from a brain drain state into a brain gain state.”

Democrats like House Minority Leader Mark Smith of Marshalltown are offering a different assessment.

“This has been a historic session for special interests and a particularly bad session for everyday Iowans,” Smith said.

It has been 20 years since Republicans held the majority of seats in the House and Senate at the same time a Republican held the governor’s office. Governor Kim Reynolds is praising the 2018 legislature’s passage of the tax bill as well as approval of a water improvement plan and bills to address the opioid epidemic and problems in the state’s mental health care system.

“It’s been a great session,” Reynolds said earlier this week. “I’m really proud of the accomplishments.”

A plan designed to eventually cut Iowans’ income taxes by $400 million a year was the last major piece of legislation to clear the 2018 Iowa legislature this weekend. In addition to fulfilling GOP wishes to cut taxes, the state now has a law that bans nearly all abortions, setting up a potential challenge of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling that legalized abortion.

A year ago, Republicans in the legislature voted to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. A 2017 law also limits the union bargaining rights of public sector workers. Upmeyer said those are accomplishments that will “fire up” the GOP base in the November election.

“This really is a historic General Assembly, for sure,” Upmeyer said. “Part of that was done last year. Part of it’s done this year.”

Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines, said Democrats are anxious to challenge Republican legislative candidates this fall.

“I’m hopeful that we’ll see much blue skies and a much bluer senate next session,” Petersen said.

In a gesture honoring the longest-serving legislator in state history, who is retiring, Republicans gave Democratic Senator Wally Horn of Cedar Rapids the job of handling the resolution that led the senate to adjourn at 5:11 p.m. The House adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

Iowa now has toughest abortion ban in U.S. (AUDIO)

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Governor Kim Reynolds signs the abortion bill into law.

Governor Kim Reynolds this afternoon approved the most restrictive abortion law in the country.

“I believe that all innocent life is precious and sacred and, as governor, I have pledged to do everything in my power to protect it,” Reynolds said. “And that’s what I am doing today.”

The new law forbids abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which happens around the sixth week of a pregnancy. Three hours before the governor approved the measure, officials from Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa announced they’d go to court to block the law from going into effect. Backers of the abortion ban are hoping this legal dispute goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and wind up overturning the 1973 decision that legalized abortion.

Reynolds acknowledged the looming legal battle in brief remarks before she signed the bill into law.

“I understand that not everyone will agree with this decision,” Reynolds said. “But if death is determined when a heart stops beating, then doesn’t a beating heart indicate life?”

Many in the large crowd of bill backers surrounding Reynolds responded with a “hear, hear!” in agreement. Protesters outside the governor’s office could be heard chanting in disagreement as Reynolds continued speaking.

“I understand and I anticipate that this will likely be challenged in court and that courts may even put on hold a law until it reaches the Supreme Court. However, this is bigger than just a law. This is about life and I’m not going to back down from who I am or what I believe in,” Reynolds said, getting a burst of cheers from the crowd surrounding her statehouse desk.

AUDIO of bill signing ceremony

A woman asked the crowd to give “three cheers for Governor Reynolds.” After the “hoorays,” Reynolds asked that legislators be included in the accolades.

A group of children from a local Christian school as well as the children and grandchildren of the bill’s supporters were among the crowd surrounding the governor’s desk for the event. Reynolds spoke briefly with reporters before leaving the room.

“I’ve seen a lot of positive encouragement and prayers to support life and not to stop a beating heart,” Reynolds said. “This is about life and I believe life is life, whether it’s inside the womb or outside the womb.”

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, is currently leading the legal defense of the state’s ban on abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. Reynolds told reporters even if Miller defends this new law, too, outside attorneys and groups may join the state’s legal team.

“Individuals who are pro-life that are interested in also being a part of this,” Reynolds told reporters.

And the governor said her office fielded those calls before she signed the bill into law.

A couple of dozen protesters outside the governor’s office sang and chanted during the event.

(Photo courtesy of Iowa Public Radio’s John Pemble)

Planned Parenthood, ACLU of Iowa vow to challenge abortion ban in court

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Suzanna de Baca of Planned Parenthood.

Abortion rights activists staged a rally on the statehouse grounds today, promising a legal battle over a new state law that would ban nearly all abortions in the state.

“I am here to tell Governor Reynolds: ‘We will see you in court,'” Suzanna de Baca, president of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, said during the rally.

The Republican-led legislature passed a bill banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which happens around the sixth week of a pregnancy. Governor Reynolds staff announced early this afternoon Reynolds would sign the bill into law at 3 p.m.

Mark Stringer, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, said the abortion ban is the most restrictive in the country.

“The ACLU of Iowa will be proud to be a part of this litigation team that will stand with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland as we sue,” he said.

Many of the Republican legislators who spoke in favor of the bill during House and Senate debate are anxious for the matter to go to court, too, hoping it will be the catalyst for overturning Roe v Wade, the 1972 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.

Erin Davison-Rippey, director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, was the lead-off speaker at today’s rally. She said Planned Parenthood and its allies “will persist no matter what.”

“We will do whatever it takes to make sure that we protect the rights that our mothers, our grandmothers and our great-grandmothers have already won,” Davison-Rippey said.

Rally goers also criticized a proposal that’s eligible for a vote in the House and Senate that would deny federal grants to Planned Parenthood sex ed programs for teenagers. Andi Grubb, director of education for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, said “tens of the thousands” of Iowa teens take the courses.

“We empower young people to determine their own values, to determine their own boundaries and to practice healthy communication and consent,” Grubb said. “In an era of #metoo, we need more of that, not less of that.”

Grubbs said classes explain how to use contraceptives to avoid pregnancy and protection to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. Abstinence is also discussed.

“We answer questions honestly and we tell people it’s o.k. not to have sex until you’re ready,” Grubb said. “And, yes, as a leading source of reproductive and sexual health education, Planned Parenthood teaches safe sex.”

Critics say abortion providers have a “conflict of interest” and should not be involved in government-funded sex ed classes.

 

(This story was updated at 1:25 p.m. after the governor announced she intends to sign the bill into law later this afternoon.)

Governor Reynolds to decide soon whether to approve new abortion law

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Governor Kim Reynolds.

Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s waiting to receive the official copy of legislation that supporters say will place Iowa at “ground zero” in the national debate over abortion.

A bill that would ban nearly all abortions in Iowa cleared the House late Tuesday night and the Senate early Wednesday morning. On Wednesday afternoon, Reynolds told reporters she was “excited” to see the bill which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, but isn’t ready to public declare she’ll sign it into law.

“We’ll do like we do with every other bill, though,” Reynolds said. “We look forward to reviewing it and making a decision very soon.”

If Reynolds were to veto the bill, though, it would surprise bill backers who consider her an ally in their quest to outlaw abortion. And Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, is already considering whether his office would defend a new state abortion ban in court. A lawsuit challenging it is expected if the governor signs the bill into law.

“We’re considering what our responsibilities are and what the best thing is to do and what the most ethical thing is to do and we’re giving it a lot of serious thought,” Miller told reporters yesterday.

Miller’s office is already defending the state in the lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2017 law that requires a three-day waiting period for women seeking abortions in Iowa. The ACLU of Iowa and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland filed that lawsuit a year ago. It’s likely those groups would be involved in a legal challenge of this new law.

Daniel Zeno, policy counsel for the ACLU of Iowa, said the group is reviewing the six-week abortion ban and consider what “next steps” the organization might take.

“Decades of Supreme Court precedent have consistently held that any abortion ban pre-viability is unconstitutional,” Zeno said, “and the court has also held that viability outside the womb, according to medical knowledge, is about 24 weeks.”

In 2013, a federal court blocked enforcement of a North Dakota law that banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Backers of this similar bill in Iowa hope it could be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, where conservative justices hold a five-to-four majority. Abortion restrictions adopted in Kentucky and Mississippi this spring are already being challenged in court.

GOP-led legislature passes ban on abortions after sixth week of pregnancy

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Representative Shannon Lundgren.

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, acknowledged the bill is designed to challenge Roe v Wade, the decision that legalized abortion.

“The science and technology have significantly advanced since 1973,” Lundgren said. “It is time for the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue of life.”

Twelve hours after Lundgren’s remarks, Republican Senator Rick Bertrand of Sioux City celebrated as Republicans in the Iowa Senate were poised to pass the same bill.

“My God, doesn’t it feel good when Republicans vote like Republicans?” Bertrand asked. “…My friends, today we will make history. Today we will begin this journey as Iowa becomes ground zero now, nationally, in the life movement and the starting line back to the Supreme Court.”

Democrats like Senator Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City predicted the state will waste millions in court defending a law that’s been overturned in other states.

“This extreme bill is the new form of GOP coercion of Iowa women,” Bolkcom said. “It’s time for you to quit playing doctor.”

Senator Matt McCoy

Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, called the bill “anti-woman.”

“This is unconstitutional and this will not stand,” McCoy said. “….All you have done is disenfranchise more women, as if you need to give them one more reason to vote against you this fall.”

Representative Sandy Salmon, a Republican from Janesville, said the bill “thrusts Iowa to the right side of history” in challenging Roe v Wade.

“With this bill, we make Iowa one of the safest places for the baby in the womb in the entire nation,” Salmon said.

Representative Amy Nielsen of North Liberty was among the many House Democrats who spoke against the bill Tuesday evening, arguing it basically bans nearly all abortions in Iowa since few women realize they’re pregnant at week six.

“I and every woman in this state deserves to have someone stand up for them and say: ‘Your choice is worth saving,'” Nielsen said.

Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, a Democrat from Ames, said if the bill becomes law, women with the resources will travel to another state, like neighboring Illinois, to get an abortion.

“These restrictions do nothing to reduce or eliminate abortion,” Wessel-Kroeschell says, “but put roadblocks between a woman and her physician and making the best medical decision for her.”

And Wessel-Kroeschell suggested House Republicans passed the bill because they’d been “backed into a corner.”

“You see no way out of this legislative session until this bill passes,” Wessel-Kroeschell said. “The Senate is holding you hostage with their extreme agenda and you are willing to take this extreme vote, just to get out of here.”

A handful of Republican senators threatened to block progress on budget bills if the House failed to pass this bill. A spokeswoman for Governor Kim Reynolds says the governor is “100 percent pro-life,” but Reynolds “will not comment on any bill until she sees it in its final form.”

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.

Among the 46 “no” votes in the House on the bill were all the Democrats present, along with the following six Republicans: Chip Baltimore of Boone, Jane Bloomingdale of Northwood. Lee Hein of Monticello, Dave Maxwell of Gibson, Andy McKean of Anamosa and Louis Zumbach of Coggon.

All 28 Republicans in the Senate present voted for the bill, along with independent Senator David Johnson of Ocheydan. All the Democrats present in the Senate voted “no” on the final vote, which was taken at 2:21 a.m.

(This story was updated at 2:21 a.m.)

Ex-Texas Representative who regrets never banning abortion testifies at Iowa House hearing

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Tom Delay

Former Texas Congressman Tom Delay, the former majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, was among the speakers at a hearing in the Iowa Capitol tonight.

Delay is now part of a coalition of 120 groups pressing for bills — like the one pending in the Iowa House — that would ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected.

“I am very proud of Iowa taking the lead on passing a heartbeat bill because it is time,” Delay said. “Ladies and gentlemen, it has been 45 years…Something has to change.”

Delay is an opponent of the 1973 Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion and he told Iowa legislators public attitudes are changing because of what people can see on a sonogram.

“It’s not a piece of flesh. It’s not a bug. It’s not a parasite,” Delay said. “It’s a little baby.”

People lined up outside the hearing.

Delay spoke briefly with Radio Iowa after the hearing, suggesting his travels to Iowa and other states are a bit of penance for inaction during his 15 years in congress.

“I regretted all this time that I was in congress and, frankly, had the strength of power, that I didn’t get rid of abortion,” said Delay, who resigned from congress in 2005 after being accused of campaign finance irregularities.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland CEO Suzanna de Baca testified immediately after Delay.

“We are once again being forced to plea for women’s basic reproductive rights,” de Baca said. “How insulting for women who remember what life was like before Roe w Wade.”

According to de Baca, before 1973, one in six deaths among pregnant women “were the result of an illegal abortion.”

“If you advance this legislation, Iowa will be dragged back into the back alley days,” de Baca said.

De Baca and others were cheered by a large contingent gathered outside the hearing room, watching the hearing on a large monitor. Dr. Amy Bingaman, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Des Moines, called the six-week abortion ban an attempt to insert politics into the practice of medicine

“I am fighting for my patients, your wives, your sisters, your children,” she said.

The Iowa Senate passed a six-week abortion ban at the end of February. A similar ban attached to another abortion-related proposal and is now eligible for debate in the full House.

Iowa House panel advances bill with tougher abortion ban

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The committee room where lawmakers discussed new abortion restrictions.

A ban on nearly all abortions in Iowa after the sixth week of a pregnancy has cleared a House committee with the support of a dozen Republicans.

However, at least two of those Republicans made it clear they want changes in the bill if or when it’s debated by the full House.

“I believe that we all respect life in this room, but there’s a disparity between how we treat life inside the womb and how we treat life outside the womb,” Representative Rob Taylor, a Republican from West Des Moines, said before adding this caveat:  “As this bill stands today…it needs a lot of refinement.”

Representative Dave Heaton, a Republican from Mount Pleasant, was another reluctant “yes” on the bill, although he did not voice his reasons during the committee meeting. Representative Michael Bergan of Dorchester was the only Republican to vote against the measure.

All the Democrats on the committee, including Representative Timi Brown-Powers of Waterloo, voted against the bill.

“I’m a mother of one who had eight miscarriages. I would never choose an abortion for me,” Brown-Powers said in an emotional speech during today’s committee meeting. “But I cannot choose for any of you what you would do because, quite frankly, it is none of my business.”

The bill is a merger of two proposals — the ban on abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected along with a ban on the sale or donation of fetal tissue from a miscarriage or abortion. Representative Marti Anderson, a Democrat from Des Moines, suggested the bill’s abortion ban “intentionally goes too far.”

“The motivation is clear: to create a vehicle to legally challenge Roe v Wade,” Anderson said.

Representative Sandy Salmon, a Republican from Janesville, is among those arguing the ruling that legalized abortion should be overturned.

“Unfortunately a number of things that are legal are also destructive and this is among the worst,” Salmon said.

Representative Mary Mascher, a Democrat from Iowa City, pointed to similar laws in other states that have been ruled unconstitutional in federal courts.

“Iowans are watching…They are listening,” Mascher said. “Iowans will not forget and they will vote.”

Representative Shannon Lundgren, a Republican from Peosta, said supporters of the bill are fulfilling a campaign promise to seek abortion restrictions.

“The one important reason why we’re here today — there is another life at stake,” Lundgren said. “All lives matter. Absolutely all lives matter.”

Iowa’s current law bans abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy.