From the Desk of Senator Weiner

Friendly note to readers: This isn’t going to be brief.

You’ll see below an overview of the six-week ban that the Iowa Supreme Court approved on a 4-3 vote this past Friday.

These are my thoughts on it, most of which I shared at a June 28 event:

I am a proud Iowan. I love my state, I care about its people – and that’s why I’m standing here today.

Two years ago, we in Iowa lost two fundamental constitutional rights in the span of a week – the right to control our bodies and our lives under the Iowa constitution, and then, one week later, Roe fell in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs case. But, until now, abortion remained legal in Iowa until 20 weeks.

That changed on Friday. Now, half of Iowans have been stripped of their rights to decide if, when and how to start a family.

Now, we are less free. Now, we have fewer rights than we did yesterday. Now, we are less than. We are no longer equal citizens under the law.

Friday’s split Iowa Supreme Court ruling – it was 4-3 – is the latest gambit in this cruel game between our extreme Republican trifecta, who do not listen to Iowans, and the majority of Iowans who support reproductive freedom.

This is about power and one narrow world view. If it were really about lives, there would be family leave and childcare and medical care and free school lunches and a higher minimum wage – and much more.

It’s about a blastocyst and an embryo and, 10 weeks after fertilization, a fetus.

It’s not about actual women and pregnant persons.

It’s not about respecting the medical profession.

It’s not about trusting women and pregnant persons.

And it’s not about healthcare. Yes, abortion is healthcare. And to those who say is it not, I ask:

• Have they or anyone they know ever had a D and C?
• An ectopic or a molar pregnancy?
• Have they or anyone they know ever suffered from pre-eclampsia or a ruptured uterus or any one of myriad other complications?
• Have they or anyone they know ever had a much-wanted fetus with a deadly diagnosis?
• Have they or anyone they know been in an abusive relationship?
• Have they or anyone then know been raped or abused by a close friend or member of the family?

Abortion is healthcare. And the decision belongs squarely between a woman – a pregnant person – and their doctor.

I don’t belong in that exam room. No member of the Iowa legislature does, and neither does Kim Reynolds. Last I looked, none of us have medical degrees – in fact, no member of the Iowa Senate does.

Republican politicians are not listening. Over 60% of Iowans believe in reproductive freedom.

And you know what else? Abortion bans are literally against my religion. I believe one way forward is by using their new Religious Freedom Restoration Act. A similar case has been proceeding in Indiana. We need to use every legal tool we have.

Whether or not to have a child is a highly personal decision. It’s also an economic decision. Can I afford to raise a child, pay for what it needs, house it, feed it, clothe it, educate it? As someone raising a young child, I am highly aware of those costs – both necessary and optional. And, if you live in one of our maternal healthcare deserts, it may also be a practical decision.

And healthcare is all connected. When you limit some forms of health care, you decrease access across the board to essential services. States with extreme bans have poorer health outcomes for women and children, including higher rates of maternal and infant mortality.

When people are denied abortions, their long-term well-being and that of their children, if they have them, suffers. And the burden, as always, falls disproportionately on Black, Latina, and indigenous communities.

Abortion bans cause physicians to move out of state. We are already last in the nation in our ratio of OB-GYNs to women.

And we all know that this law won’t stop abortions. It will just prevent many safe and legal abortions.

It won’t end here. They are coming for our rights – contraception, IVF, same sex marriage – even no-fault divorce. They are coming for everyone who doesn’t look like them or think like them or worship like them. And by now I hope we all realize that that is not hyperbole.

As my colleague Senator Petersen wrote today: Governor Reynolds and state house Republicans failed to mention our bodies, our health, and our future are not part of their “freedom agenda.” It’s time to fight back, Iowa.

So, this year, yes, every single vote matters. I am a Supreme Court voter. I am a U.S. Congress voter. I am an LGBTQA rights voter. I am a voting rights voter. I am a healthcare voter, a pro-choice voter, and a DEMOCRACY voter.

I am a “thinking-of-everyone’s-kids-and-grandkids” voter. In other words, I am an Iowa voter. Fin.

Separately, I commend to you all Chief Justice Christensen’s eloquent dissent, which I hope will get some national play. In her opinion, Christensen rejected the majority’s claim that abortion rights aren’t grounded in Iowa history or tradition: “The majority’s rigid approach relies heavily on the male-dominated history and traditions of the 1800s, all the while ignoring how far women’s rights have come since the Civil War era. … By exclusively relying on the text of our constitution that was adopted in 1857 and our state’s history and tradition to conclude that abortion is not a fundamental right, the majority perpetuates the gendered hierarchies of old when women were second-class citizens.”

She also wrote of the nature of the right at issue: “It is painfully apparent to me that the majority misapprehends the nature of the liberty at issue here. It is not whether abortion, with the polarizing reactions it evokes, is a fundamental right but rather whether individuals have the fundamental right to make medical decisions affecting their health and bodily integrity in partnership with their healthcare provider free from government interference.”

As I said, I commend to you her dissent in full.

We have work to do.

Read more about Senator Weiner on her legislative home page here.