One of the oddities that I came away from Thursday’s subcommittee on House Study Bill 672 was the unanimous opposition to the bill from domestic abuse groups.
The bill deals with information and consent to medication abortions. It also provides information regarding abortion reversal.
Here was some of what was said from those who testified against the bill on behalf of domestic violence groups:
Laura Hessburg, Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence: “It’s misguided to think women need the protections provided by this legislation. To imply doctors force women to have abortions against their bill, this bill suggests we don’t trust women to make decisions for themselves and don’t trust Iowa doctors to provide information.
“Women denied access to abortion care often return to an abusive relationship. For those seeking abortion, medication abortion has been an especially important option. Requiring doctors to violate their medical training is a new low. Please reject this bill.”
Amy Campbell, Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault: “We want to make sure that they have accurate information. That they make those decisions based on information from their physician. We want to make sure that information is entirely correct. We don’t want to impose further trauma or confusion on a victim of rape.”
Perhaps my worldview is just that radically different from the worldviews that these two groups hold. I get that. Whatever.
But this bill wouldn’t stop one abortion. Not one. All it does is provide information to women.
It seems ironic to me that voices in the Capitol that stand against domestic violence and sexual assault are voices defending violence and assault against unborn babies.
