Iowa Heads To Special Session Over 6-week ‘Protection at Conception’ Bill
CV NEWS FEED // Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate are expected to pass a “Protection at Conception” bill this week that will protect unborn children upon cardiac activity, which is generally detected around 6 weeks’ gestation.
A one-day special session that may conclude with a vote for the bill’s approval began Tuesday. If implemented, the “Protection at Conception” bill would mark a significant change from Iowa’s current law, which allows abortions up to 20 weeks’ gestation (or 22 weeks after a woman’s last menstrual period).
The current bill will include exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormalities or medical emergencies.
In her statement last week calling for the special session, Iowa’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, said “the pro-life movement is the most important human rights cause of our time,” adding that she will continue to promote policies that support “women in planning for motherhood, promoting fatherhood and parenting, and continuing policies that encourage strong families.”
She signed a similar “heartbeat bill” in 2018 that was later blocked by the state’s supreme court.
The Des Moines Register reported that hundreds of pro-life and pro-abortion supporters gathered inside the Iowa Capitol building during Tuesday’s special session. Pro-abortion protestors shouted chants, clanged bells, and several pounded on the hearing room’s glass door.
As of June, 14 states have enacted abortion bans at various stages of pregnancy.
