Recently the Iowa Supreme Court ruled to keep an injunction in place essentially killing the “Heartbeat Bill.” The “Heartbeat Bill” was legislation passed during the 2018 legislative session. If you haven’t read it I would encourage you to do so, the bill can be easily found with a simple Google search.
Now, current legislators face the task of how to respond to the Supreme Court stopping the bill from going into effect. It seems the most popular opinion is simply repassing the same bill from 2018. Sadly I don’t think this is the best option as the bill doesn’t do what we think it would. Another option, one I would prefer (and is closer to what the Republican Party states is its top priority) would be to pass a bill actually banning the murder of unborn children in our state.
We must acknowledge we live in a “post-Roe” world. Due to this ruling, now the most popular form of ending a child’s life in the womb is poisoning them at home via a DIY abortion. No mother is going to wait to figure out if there is a heartbeat before purposely taking a pill to kill her child. Second, because murder is already illegal in Iowa, what is needed is a bill of equal protection for all persons – in this case, children in the womb. The “Heartbeat Bill” explicitly protects the right of a woman to kill her child in the womb because there are no consequences for her doing so. The woman is indeed protected by the law in the act of murdering her own child. Anyone who can think logically will see this and not be worried about going through with the act to end her child’s life. Nor will Planned Parenthood, which profits off the murder of children, be worried about assisting in abortions since the mothers are protected. It’s worth noting the only consequence for the doctor assisting in the murder is possible disciplinary action against their license. I say possible because they will be referred to the Iowa Medical Board for review, a board on which pro-abortion, pro-Planned Parenthood doctors sit and will be making a judgment. This is a far cry from real justice for someone being murdered. All of this fails to mention the arbitrary language when it comes to all the exceptions included in the bill. I’m afraid the bill is window dressing to make ourselves feel good about ultimately falling short to act on this issue. All of these factors combined are why the “Heartbeat Bill” in my opinion won’t do what its supporters claim.
Abortion is the murder of another human being – an innocent child. Roe has been overturned, the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled there is no right to an abortion in Iowa. So why aren’t we courageous enough to project the lives of innocent children? It’s a question I’m afraid to hear the answer to.
The LORD alone raises up those in government to be His Deacons. I personally couldn’t stand before Him supporting these types of bills. As elected officials, the blood of millions of children is on our hands, we can do better than window dressing.
“Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are stumbling to the slaughter, oh hold them back. If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ Does not He who weighs the hearts understand? And does not He who guards your soul know? And will not He render to man according to his work?” – Proverbs 24:11-12
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