Here We Go Again: Iowa House Sneaks Fetal Personhood Law Back In
Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa
Shortly
before last week's deadline, opponents of a woman's right to choose
slipped in a bill that would redefine “person” in the Iowa Criminal
Code as “a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of
development, when carried in the womb or after birth.”
Citing
the Laci Peterson case, proponents of House File 752 (HF 752) claim it
is needed in order to punish perpetrators of crimes against pregnant
women resulting in death or injury to the fetus. Governor Vilsack
observed when he vetoed this measure last year that an Iowa law enacted
several years ago already addresses this issue.
The
dangerous reality of the bill is that it creates tensions with Roe v.
Wade. HF 752 elevates the legal status of the fetus to that of an
adult human being and provides separate legal protection to a
fertilized egg, embryo or fetus.
Iowa Law Already Exists to Punish Violent Crimes against Pregnant Women
Iowa
Code section 707.8(1) deals with terminating a human pregnancy without
the consent of the pregnant woman during the commission of a forcible
felony (murder, kidnapping, robbery, assault or arson). A person
found guilty under this Code section is guilty of a Class B
felony. There is a maximum 25-year penalty for Class B felonies.
HF 752 takes the focus away from the woman who is the victim and instead focuses on the fetus.
When
Governor Vilsack vetoed identical legislation last year, he stated that
greater accountability for people committing crimes against a pregnant
woman and greater protection for pregnant women could be accomplished
by increasing existing penalties.
In 2004,
during consideration of this legislation, amendments to increase
penalties under current law for crimes against pregnant women were
defeated, thus exposing the true intent of proponents to define fetus as a person.
The House could debate HF 752 any time. Urge your State Representative to oppose this measure.
Click here to send a quick letter to your Iowa representative.
Blog For Iowa 
So if there's anyone left wondering why we were subjected to the Scott Peterson trial 24-7 for the past however-many years, you can stop wondering now.
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