FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2017
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With a plan that will severely restrict the reproductive freedom of Iowa women and families on its way to the governor’s desk, NARAL Pro-Choice America today urged Iowa Governor Terry Branstad to veto the dangerous legislation. The bill is one of the most severe and dangerous proposals in the country and is packed with provisions intended to chip away at a woman’s right to choose if, when, and how to start or grow her family.
“With their new majority at the capitol, Republican leaders are turning back to the same old playbook,” said James Owens, states communications director of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “A politician has no place making decisions for a woman about if, when, and how she grows her family. Yet the politicians behind this bill are putting their own dangerous ideological agenda over the freedom of the Iowans they were elected to serve. These are not the priorities of hardworking Iowan families.”
The legislation will ban abortion in Iowa after 20 weeks of pregnancy and requires healthcare providers to perform a medically unnecessary ultrasound on any woman seeking abortion care. It also mandates a 72-hour delay from the time a woman undergoes the ultrasound to the time her doctor can provide abortion care and includes a “biased counseling” requirement that makes it harder for patients to get accurate information about their medical care from their doctors. Last week, NARAL Pro-Choice America sent a letter to Governor Branstad asking him to veto this legislation. To see the letter, click here.
NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”
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