IOWA SENATE NEWS
May 4, 2018
“This new law is another dangerous example of politicians dictating health care decisions for Iowa women.
“In the past two years, Governor Reynolds and other the Republican-controlled Legislature have made our state more dangerous for Iowa women. Instead of improving health care access for women, Governor Reynolds and the Republican-controlled Legislature have pushed through policies that put more women at risk, including:
- Making it harder for women to prevent pregnancies by gutting Iowa’s highly successful family planning program.
- Supporting a privatized Medicaid system — which serves nearly half of all pregnant moms — that isn’t paying bills for providers across our state.
- Prohibiting many of the state’s most highly qualified providers from participating in their GOP Family Planning program while the families of Republican legislators could see whomever they chose under their taxpayer funded health insurance program.
- Cutting home visits for at-risk newborn babies and their mothers.
“This new law is extreme because it restricts the freedom of Iowa women and girls to care for their bodies, and it forces motherhood on Iowa women.
“This new law is dangerous.
“This new law is unconstitutional.”
-end-
Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen spoke against SF 359, the nation’s most extreme anti-woman law during debate on May 2, 2018.