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Iowa took the national spotlight Tuesday. Getting the national spotlight these days usually involve doing something truly outrageous. Frequently these days the national spotlight belongs to Donald Trump’s insane statements or statements from Republicans taking us down to authoritarianism. Last Tuesday Iowa grabbed a piece of that spotlight by taking Iowa down the road to authoritarianism.

Frankly I am so outraged that I can hardly write. The absolute disdain for women and the smirky attitude exhibited by the Iowa Republican Party as they just trampled over women’s rights and the separation of church and state to impose their personal religious beliefs on Iowa’s women. 

There were reactions that popped up all over the place from social media to television to blogs and in our case on the phone and through email. I talked to a couple of friends who have moved from Iowa. One was very thankful that she was able to get out before Iowa turned to the extreme right.

She lives in a state that at present still allows abortions. As she said all pregnancies are iffy. Having a baby is not a simple black and white process. Things can and often do go wrong. If she should accidentally get pregnant she wants to have options. The state forcing birth absolutely scares her. She said she will never return to Iowa. Period.

Another female friend just asked what the hell is going on out there? Iowans used to be so level headed. She said she and her husband would have to think long and hard before ever even considering returning to Iowa. Her sentiments were passed on in tweets and postings across the internet.

And of course Kim Reynolds put the icing on the cake by turning the signing ceremony into a religious moment by doing the signing at a meeting of Pope Bob Vander Plaats FAMiLY Leader gathering. What a kick in the teeth to Iowans who are not the kind of Christians that have cornered the power in Iowa and are using it to impose their religious beliefs.

Tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com

Among the emails I got was a newsletter passed along by a friend from an Iowa state Republican representative by the name of Brad Sherman. Never heard of Brad Sherman before and hope never to hear him again. His newsletter was a faked up ‘pro-life/pro-choice’ commentary which of course was written to make ‘pro-choice’ supporters look foolish and heartless. 

At the end Mr. Sherman ended with a section that begins this way:

“ Concluding Remarks

The issue of abortion would be largely settled by answering one question. “Is the Baby in the womb a person?” To answer that question, I go to the highest authority on the matter, God.”

So Mr. Sherman introduces his religion as the ultimate authority. Might I add for many Americans and Iowans, God is a fictional character who has never been recorded as being observed and whose utterances are only disseminated by people who the unobserved God seems to agree with totally. Funny how that works.

So Iowa passes a very close to total ban on abortion. The chances of it being rescinded for four years is close to zero. It is doubtful that the Iowa Supreme Court will overturn it. The Court is all Republican appointed right wing justices. They did not uphold the most recent abortion imposition not because they thought the law unconstitutional but because they felt the Supreme Court should not be in the business of imposing laws. I suspect the vote the next time will be 7 to 0.

If Iowans are really pissed off – and they should be – and they put Democrats in charge of the legislature in 2025, Kim Reynolds and her religious convictions will still be there to veto any change to abortion laws. Iowa doesn’t have referendum as a method to change laws. The closest they have is a constitutional amendment and that is a long process that is not easy to do.

So at best now that we are stuck with this pig manure pile of a bill we appear to be stuck with it until voters put Democrats in charge of the legislature and a Democrat back in the governor’s chair. The earliest that could happen is January of 2027.

While the Republicans spoke of their love of life, did anyone see a one of them get up and say something like “We will also make sure that child has the necessities to be a full citizen. Food, shelter, education, care, clothing – the state will make sure that every child will not want.” Nope, we didn’t hear that from any Republican. Make the women give birth and that is the end. So much for their “pro-life” horse manure.

And while we are at it, did anyone hear of any punishment to the male who had to participate in the making of the child? I sure didn’t. Once again the male gets away without so much as a slap on the hand. Maybe that “pro-life” movement should impose some harsh penalties on the male participant. Maybe that male should be sterilized so he can do it again?

I think we all know that there will be and exit of medically trained personnel who don’t want to be caught in a vice between an idiotic law and their vow to help humans. We can no doubt also see an exit of young people who want to have options to control their own reproductive life and not leave it up to old, white, religious men. Bye, kids!

Looks like we are back to the days of young women leaving the state for a safe abortion or trying the old back room abortion or the often tragic self abortion. Just like when I was a kid. Banning abortions never stopped them, just drove them out of state or to very dangerous options. Will the old men who forced women to make these choices feel any remorse? Of course not! They have Gawd on their side!

In some sort of cosmic irony the FDA approved an OTC birth control pill for sale Thursday morning. Sales will likely begin early next year.

Somebody call me when the Republicans start introducing bills that will take care of the children they forced to be born.

Email from Rob Sand: