The Iowa Senate had an emotional debate about abortion last (Tuesday) night. It ended when all 29 Republicans, two Democrats and the independent in the senate voted for a bill that would forbid most abortions after a pregnancy reaches its 20th week. There would be exemptions where the mother’s life is at risk. A woman could terminate a pregnancy between 20 and 24 weeks if the fetus has a fatal condition. More than 15 states have passed similar legislation, and a handful faced legal challenges.

Senator Ken Rozenboom is a Republican from Oskaloosa. “Senators as we cast this important vote…it’s my hope and it’s my prayer that some day down the road, maybe 20 years from now, maybe a young girl will come up to you and say: ‘Thanks for my life,'” Rozenboom said.

Senator Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, says “dialogue” around the abortion issue has always “perplexed” him. Feenstra was among 16 Republicans senators who publicly indicated they wanted to go farther and pass legislation that would essentially ban all abortions in Iowa and, perhaps, set up a legal challenge of the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion. Senator Rick Bertrand, a Republican from Sioux City, expressed frustration. “It’s the goal of sending it back to where this horrific practice began, which was the Supreme Court. We could have put that on a path tonight, but we didn’t,” Bertrand said. “We’ll do it next time.”

Republican Senator Jack Chapman of Adel unsuccessfully tried to force an up-or-down senate vote that would have given legal protection to a human egg at the moment of conception. Senator Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines who voted against the bill, delivered a stillborn baby more than a decade ago after a knot formed in the umbilical cord. “This is probably one of the most mean-spirited bills I’ve seen yet this year and we’ve seen a lot of mean-spirited bills,” Petersen said. “I get the calls from women who get the devastating blow that their baby is not going to make it.”

Petersen and other critics of the bill say fewer than one percent of abortions are performed after the 20th week of a pregnancy because the baby would not survive outside the womb or because the mother’s health is threatened. Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says the bill will “hinder medical care.”

Current Iowa law bans abortions after 27 weeks. This stricter ban would have to clear the Iowa House before it reaches the governor’s desk. Governor Branstad has expressed support for new abortion restrictions.

(Radio Iowa)