IVF fears scuttle Iowa bill raising penalty for ending pregnancy without consent

A bill raising penalties for ending someone's pregnancy without their consent won't move forward in the Iowa Legislature this year over concerns that it could endanger access to in vitro fertilization, a key Republican lawmaker said.

The legislation, House File 2575, would increase the penalties for terminating a person's pregnancy without their consent. And it changes the phrase "terminates a human pregnancy," which exists in the current law, to "causes the death of an unborn person."

The bill defines “unborn person” as “an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization to live birth.”

House lawmakers passed the bill on March 7. But the Senate Judiciary Committee did not bring up the bill at its meeting Wednesday — the committee's final scheduled meeting before a legislative deadline on Friday.

Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, the committee's chair, said he didn't put the bill on the calendar because it "needed work."

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"There was some definite concerns about in vitro fertilization and the negative effects and unintended consequences with that," he said. "And that was very problematic for myself and so that’s why I pulled the bill."

To advance this year, bills must pass a full chamber and a committee in the opposite chamber by the end of the week.

Democrats in the House warned that the bill could jeopardize in vitro fertilization treatment in Iowa after a state Supreme Court ruling in Alabama last month found that embryos frozen as part of the IVF process are legally protected as children.

Alabama lawmakers later passed legislation explicitly protecting IVF clinics and doctors from civil and criminal liability.

House Republicans dismissed Democrats' fears during floor debate, saying the bill increases penalties for crimes already in Iowa law.

More:House votes to raise penalty for killing an 'unborn person.' Democrats say it endangers IVF.

But Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday even though he believes Alabama's situation is different than Iowa's, he understands the concerns about IVF.

"I believe life begins at conception," he said. "I also think we have to come to terms with how we’re going to deal with the IVF issue. So I understand the concerns there."

Holt said he doesn't know if lawmakers will try to find a way to revive the bill later in the session.

"But I think that the concerns for IVF, that’s certainly a discussion we’ve got to have before we would move it on," he said.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, criticized Republicans for originally dismissing their concerns and saying the bill had nothing to do with IVF.

"They got caught running a bill that did more than they said. They mocked us when we said it did that. And then other Republicans pulled the bill because it did just what we said," she said. "That is politics at its worst."

Democrats aim to make IVF, abortion into election issues this fall

Democrats in Iowa and nationally have made clear they intend to campaign this fall on access to abortion and reproductive health care.

Zaun is seeking his sixth term in the Senate this year. He's facing a challenge from Urbandale City Council member Matt Blake in what is expected to be Senate Democrats' top Republican-held target.

Zaun won a narrow victory in 2020, defeating a Democratic challenger by 2 percentage points. Since he was last on the ballot, his district has become more urban through Iowa's redistricting process. District 22 includes Johnston, eastern Urbandale and some parts of Polk County.

He said political concerns didn't play a role in his decision not to bring up the bill.

"I’ve voted on a lot of pro-life bills in the past. I have a record. You can tell that I’m pro-life," he said. "I wasn’t worried about this bill, or actually any particular bill. I wasn’t sent down here to make decisions based on reelection. But I also have a responsibility as chair to make sure that legislation is written correctly."

More:Most Iowans support Kim Reynolds’ prescription-free birth control plan, Iowa Poll finds

Earlier this week, three Senate Democrats held a news conference urging Republicans to pass a bill guaranteeing a right to contraception, citing the Iowa bill and the Alabama case.

"Iowans are watching what is happening in other states and they are worried," said Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, who is also on the ballot this fall. "It’s time for the Republican majority to join us in standing up for birth control access and protecting procedures like IVF. We must defend the right of Iowans to have a family when the time is right for them."

Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, pointed to Zaun and other Senate Republicans' 2019 vote in favor of Senate File 523. That bill had similar language about causing the death of an "unborn person," which the bill defined as beginning at fertilization.

"I know that Sen. Zaun and Republicans are now claiming that they have killed this bill in the Senate," she said. "But let me assure you, in 2019 they all voted for a bill that was very similar on personhood."

Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, said Senate Republicans thought the bill needed too much work.

"We were kind of doing the opposite of what Alabama just rushed into session to do, which was allow IVF," he said. "And we just thought — it came over fairly late — and we just thought that bill is not ready for prime time and we're going to put it on the shelf and move on."

Kim Reynolds' bill to expand birth control access fails to advance

Gov. Kim Reynolds' longtime effort to expand birth control access, House File 2584, will not move forward this year after failing to gain enough support among House Republicans.

A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found 79% of Iowans favor a bill to allow Iowans to receive birth control from a pharmacist without first seeing a doctor.

Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley said he's supportive of the bill, adding, "I think it's something that we should consider. "But he said House Republicans have philosophical disagreements on the subject that have kept it from gaining enough support.

"Within our caucus right now there isn't a level of consensus to be able to move that bill forward," he said.

The Senate passed a bill last year expanding birth control access, and Whitver called the idea "good policy."

"That's a bill I think the Senate has passed probably three times at least over the last few years and so it's something obviously this chamber supports," Whitver said. "I don't know specifically what their hang-up is. You'd have to ask the speaker on that."

Konfrst said Democrats want to expand birth control access and criticized Republicans for not supporting the policy.

"If the governor wanted to make over-the-counter birth control available to every Iowan as badly as she wanted to pass school vouchers or gut AEAs, I think we'd see it happen," she said. "Except she can't get it done in the House and the Senate because there aren't enough Republicans who want to support over-the-counter birth control for Iowa women."

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.