There is nothing better than celebrating another trip around the sun with family and friends, since my birthday was on Tuesday, I celebrated with my friends and colleagues in the House. They really made sure that I had a special day, and I appreciate all of them. Our Ways and Means and Appropriations Committees are very busy this time of year. Bills in both of these committees are funnel-proof. As we wind down session and negotiate with the Senate on bills, there is more time between meetings and debates than usual. We finished work around 4 pm on Wednesday so we were able to travel home unless you were one of us that chose to attend the Iowa Prayer Breakfast yesterday. There were over 1,200 people in attendance, and it was great joining Iowa Christians from all walks of life in prayer and fellowship as part of Holy Week festivities.A few bills that I have worked on recently seem to have some traction based on an amendment. The first is a bill that allows a pharmacist to dispense up to 12 months of self-administered contraceptives. You would see a physician and a pharmacist would dispense the first 3 months to ensure a woman doesn’t have an adverse reaction and then a woman over would be able to get up to 12 months dispensed at one time. The woman must be 18 or older. Statistics show that if we eliminated trips to the pharmacy, women are more likely to be consistent with taking their contraceptives, thus preventing unwanted pregnancy. It becomes another tool in the toolbox to help eliminate abortion as a method of birth control. There is also language about EpiPen dispensing at a Pharmacy in this bill too. There is some pushback on that, but an amendment should make some similar Doctor visit requirements.I will offer another amendment to the above bill, which I have worked on for several years. It is an Informed Consent Law that will require a doctor to inform a woman that a chemically induced abortion can be reversed if only the first dose of RU486 is taken, and medical assistance is sought right away. The Iowa Supreme Court is slated to hear Oral Arguments on our 2018 Heartbeat Law next week. An informed consent law is a small step we can take to help protect our vulnerable unborn children without jeopardizing the Heartbeat Law.
