Democrats promise fight on bill banning abortion if heartbeat is detected

Democrats promised a showdown over a Republican plan that would block most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

The legislation, offered as an amendment to a previous bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks, was unveiled shortly before a committee was scheduled to vote on it Tuesday. Furious, Democrats used procedural delays to postpone a vote until Wednesday.

“We’re certainly going to dig in our heels," said Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames. "We’re not just going to let this go without a fight. We recognize we’re in the minority and we don’t have much of a chance. But I absolutely know that what this bill would do to women and their health care is not what Iowans want.”

Rep. Shannon Lundgren, a Republican from Peosta and the bill's floor manager, said that even if Democrats decide to delay the process, "We'll wait."

“We do have the votes to get this out of committee," she said. "We feel very strongly that we need to move this legislation forward.”

The bill offers exceptions when the life or health of the mother is in jeopardy, but it does not include exemptions for cases of rape or incest, or when fetal anomalies are detected. There are no criminal penalties, but the physician's license could be removed.

The bill also includes language that would prevent a physician from performing an abortion after 20 weeks of gestation, and it states that life is recognized to begin at fertilization.

Fetal heartbeat laws already have been struck down by the courts in other states, including North Dakota and Arkansas. Ohio Gov. John Kasich in December vetoed a fetal heartbeat bill and instead signed a 20-week abortion ban. Similar 20-week bans have also been challenged in the courts.

Republicans said they crafted the legislation with the understanding that it could face legal challenges.

Lundgren said the bill is structured in such a way that if the fetal heartbeat provision is struck down, the 20-week ban would remain in place.

“As pro-life legislators, we truly do believe that life begins at conception, so what we’ve done with this bill is we’ve covered all of the bases to make sure that we do move pro-life legislation out of our committee and onto the House floor this year," Lundgren said.

Republicans in the Legislature so far have been split over how to approach the issue. Many preferred strict legislation that would define life as beginning at conception, effectively outlawing all abortions. Others wanted to ban abortions after 20 weeks, which they think has a better chance of standing up to legal challenges.

Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, said he thinks the legislation as amended is a good bridge that brings together both sides of the caucus.

"I’m somebody who believes that life begins at conception," he said. "So a bill that would actually say that legal rights for a person start at a heartbeat, I think is a positive direction."

Rep. John Forbes, D-Urbandale, is a pharmacist who called the bill "an extreme assault" on women in Iowa.

“The way that I interpret the bill, I think it is going to ban a lot of birth control pills that women are currently taking in this state," he said. "And as a pharmacist and as a legislator in the state of Iowa, that concerns me greatly."

The bill defines "abortifacients" as a means of inhibiting the development of a human pregnancy at any point following conception. Some oral contraceptives at times can allow an egg to be fertilized and then block its implantation. In that case, those oral contraceptives might be considered abortifacients under the bill.

But Republicans were adamant the legislation would not prevent women from obtaining oral contraceptives.

The House Human Resources Committee is scheduled to debate Senate File 471 at 3 p.m. Wednesday.