House Republicans want Iowa to join a dozen states that bar lawsuits against doctors who do not provide pregnant women with information about abnormalities that might prompt some women to seek an abortion. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake is the top Republican in the legislature. “We want to make sure we’re protecting physicians in those circumstances,” Upmeyer says. “…If there was a legitimate medical malpractice claim or something, that’s separate from this issue.”

This fall, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled a Fort Madison woman had a right to sue her doctor after giving birth to a child with cerebral palsy. Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, a Democrat from Ames, says the woman has argued she might have chosen to have an abortion if she’d known she’d give birth to a “severely disabled child that will never walk or talk.” “Whether you disagree with what decision that woman will make or not, we certainly deserve to have the information to make our health care decisions,” Wessel-Kroeschell says.

A bill eligible for debate in the Iowa House would prohibit so-called “wrongful birth” lawsuits that seek money to cover the lifetime costs of caring for a child with profound disabilities.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The Iowa Supreme Court says the birth mother of an 18-month-old girl, paid as a surrogate to have the baby, is not legally the child’s parent. The opinion issued Friday means the girl remains with the Cedar Rapids couple raising her. The child will not be turned over to the woman who gave her birth. It’s the first time the state’s highest court determined surrogacy contracts in Iowa can be enforced.

The court says if the contracts were nullified it “would deprive infertile couples of the opportunity to raise their own biological children.” The case centers on Paul and Chantele Montover of Cedar Rapids who paid $13,000 to a Muscatine woman who wanted to keep the baby. The court concluded Paul Montover, as the baby’s biological father, gets permanent custody.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s officials report the driver of a sanitation truck that overturned and ejected him Thursday afternoon near Crescent, died at a local hospital. The man was identified as 38-year old Jeremy Daniels, of Council Bluffs. The sanitation vehicle is owned by S & L Sanitation Enterprises, Incorporated. The accident remains under investigation.

Authorities reported Thursday, that the accident involving a 2007 Sterling sanitation vehicle, happened at around 1:10-p.m. on Mynster Springs Road, west of Old Lincoln Highway. A preliminary investigation determined the sanitation vehicle was being operated westbound on Mynster Springs Road from Old Lincoln Highway.  As the vehicle was negotiating a curve to the left, the vehicle over turned and the driver was ejected.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports, a man wanted on a warrant for Violation of Probation, turned himself-in to the Sheriff’s Office, Thursday morning. 53-year old Timothy Allyn Marr, of Council Bluffs, was transported to the Pott. County Jail after being served with the warrant.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A tentative settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed over nearly $1.8 million in unpaid revenue-sharing funds from the former Argosy Sioux City riverboat casino. The Sioux City Journal reports that attorneys notified a U.S. magistrate last week of the tentative deal. The terms have not been disclosed.

The nonprofit Community Action Agency sued the Belle of Sioux City, which operated the Argosy, and Belle’s parent company, Penn National Gaming, on behalf of itself and other nonprofits that had received grants from Missouri River Historical Development Inc. That organization was the state-licensed nonprofit group that collected and distributed a portion of Argosy gambling profits to charitable and civic organizations.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of stabbing to death his grandparents in the Mason City home they shared has been ruled competent for trial. A judge said in a Cerro Gordo County District Court filing Tuesday that 25-year-old Codie Matz will be able to understand the proceedings and assist in his defense. In December his attorneys filed court documents saying it “appears the defendant is suffering from a mental disorder.”

Matz’s trial is scheduled to begin March 27. He’s pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors say he killed 61-year-old Kenneth Hackbart and 64-year-old Kathleen Hackbart. Officers found their bodies Nov. 7.