Sarah Abdouch is one of two Republicans seeking the GOP nomination in Iowa House District 20. Here are her answers to our legislative survey:
GENERAL QUESTIONS:
Describe your worldview and how that will influence you as a legislator: I am a Christian conservative. My faith directs how I ought to relate to others and it gives us a coherent code of morality necessary to human thriving. The government’s role is to place and enforce reasonable laws in a general manner, protect the citizenry from enemies, and interact with the governments of other countries on behalf of the citizenry. They are there to ensure everyone operates under the same rules and are held to the same legal standard.
In your opinion, what are the three most pressing issues the legislature should address:
- School Choice/ban of all teaching and facilitation of gender/sexual/racial ideology in public schools – i.e. return to learning basics
- Total ban on abortion and abortifacients, as well as a ban on chemical castration of children/genital mutilation of children.
- Long-term plan for state management of the Missouri River in conjunction with other states.
Feel free to explain your ideal tax policy/policies for Iowa (included in this section in order to allow for as much flexibility as possible):
I believe all taxes should be removed aside from a single source, i.e. sales or a flat income tax. Property taxes should be banned because they deprive citizens of the ownership of property. Taxation should be minimal to complete only the essential functions of government.
Have you or will you sign The Big Family Pledge: Yes, I have signed.
FREE MARKET:
Do you believe the government should force consumers to buy a product:
No.
Do you believe the government should force retailers to sell a product:
No.
Do you support reforming or eliminating Iowa’s Certificate of Need laws:
Yes.
Do you support periodic reviews of all government licenses and boards to ensure they’re necessary:
Yes, ideally through automatic sunsetting.
LIFE:
Do you support the Protect Life Amendment to the Iowa Constitution:
Yes with the caveat that I agree it could be made stronger.
When do you believe life begins and at what stage does it deserve protections under the law:
Conception, and the same. There is a compelling state interest in protecting population growth, while there is no compelling state interest in allowing the murder of children at any stage of development.
EDUCATION:
Would you support universal Education Savings Accounts for Iowa families:
Yes.
Do you believe obscene materials and pornographic materials belong in public school libraries:
No. Those facilitating the exposure of minors to pornography should also be prosecuted as sex offenders.
In what grade should schools begin providing instruction to students on sexual orientation and gender identity:
None. This is not a topic for public education. Sexual education is unnecessary in general, and should only be taught in basic biological terms.
Would you support a bathroom bill in Iowa, which states biological males use the boys’ bathroom and biological females use the girls’ bathroom:
Yes. I would support a broader bill even, protecting all public, marked, sex-segregated spaces from being entered/used by the opposite sex, including in businesses that serve the public.
LGBTQ:
Should gender identity be stripped out of the Iowa Civil Rights code:
Gender identity and sexual orientation should both be removed. Civil rights codes should be limited to immutable characteristics and religion.
Should Iowa make it illegal for minors to undergo sex-change surgery and treatments:
Yes.
Should Iowa schools/teachers ask students for preferred pronouns:
No.
Should Iowa require schools/teachers to share a child’s “preferred pronoun” and/or “gender identity” with the child’s parent(s)/guardian(s):
Yes, but also this should not be a topic that is broached with a child in these settings.
Do you support banning conversion therapy (making it illegal for a parent to take a child to a health care professional to talk about confusion as it relates to sexual orientation or gender identity)?
Parents should be allowed this choice as one of many options for dealing with an identity or sexually confused child.
COVID RELATED:
Do you believe any institution – whether private or governmental – should be able to mandate a vaccination?
No.
How could the Iowa legislature have handled the COVID pandemic differently?
They shouldn’t have allowed municipalities to violate the state law prohibiting non-medical providers from prescribing medical devices as so many did wwith the mask mandates. Forceful, immediate measures should have been taken, and should be if this ever happens again, to cease violations of citizen’s rights, such as the coercive vaccination requrements of private businesses. No one should have to choose between their job and a forced medical procedure, it’s unethical. Further, the legislature should have stepped in ASAP to stop the prolonged state of emergency by passing limits to the governor’s emergency powers.
Do you believe Iowa should reform the Governor’s emergency powers?
Yes, they need to be limited to no more than 30 days at minimum without supermajority approval by the legislature for extension.
CLOSING QUESTIONS:
Are there any issues of disagreement you have with the Republican Party of Iowa platform from 2018?
Yes. Opportunities #1 reads, “Republicans encourage public/private programs offering skills training and apprenticeships in the skilled trades, with a focus on minorities, women, the disabled, and veterans.” I oppose this language on principle, because I think it infantilizes women and creates a class of sub-citizens in the use of the term “minorities.” Programs should be offered based on need or achievement. Veterans have earned public support with their service. The disabled have a need in many cases. The poor are a group that has a need and would benefit from such training. Someone shouldn’t be “focused on” because of their sex or race for skills training and apprenticeships of all things. This is just another form of discrimination and the party shouldn’t play this game.
What improvements, if any, would you make to Iowa’s voting laws to ensure elections are fair and full of integrity?
Dropboxes should be banned. Even if they’re regulated, they are a vector for fraud. IDs accepted for ballots should only be REAL IDs to ensure citizenship. Penalties should be put in place for election officials who fail to enforce ID rules. Absentee ballots should be limited to extenuating circumstances, i.e. immobility, military deployment, etc. Absentee ballot issuance should be no more than two weeks from election and must be received by the close of polling on election day in order to be valid. Ballots should be specially printed on watermarked paper and a limited number of ballots issued per election. There should be automatic hand counts of the authenticated ballots to validate results after election-day tabulation results by machines are released. All machines should be unable to access the internet (secure USB or similar data transfer only, by a designated election official with numbered, traceable, encrypted storage device).
There are few functions of the government as important as election integrity and if there’s only one institution where money should be spent to ensure every measure is taken to protect it, this is the one.
IOWA HOUSE DISTRICT 20:
Thomas Riley has not responded to the survey.
To learn more about Abdouch’s campaign, visit this link.
