Topline
Iowa’s state House of Representatives approved a bill this week that would impose strict penalties for the death of “unborn” children, as Democrats rail against the measure, warning it could threaten in-vitro fertilization following Alabama’s landmark court decision.
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Key Facts
Iowa’s GOP-controlled House passed the Republican-sponsored bill on a 58-36 vote Thursday night, setting the stage for a vote in the Senate, which is also held firmly by Republicans.
If approved in the Senate and signed into law by the state’s Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, the legislation would make it a crime to cause the “nonconsensual” death or “serious injury” to an “unborn person,” defined from fertilization to live birth, changing the wording in Iowa state law from “human pregnancy” (Forbes has reached out to Reynolds for comment).
Under the bill, someone who “intentionally causes the death of an unborn person” without the mother’s consent or knowledge is guilty of a class B felony punishable by no more than 25 years, and it’s an aggravated misdemeanor with a punishment of up to two years to unintentionally cause the death of an unborn person.
The bill does not explicitly mention or protect in-vitro fertilization, though an amendment to exclude IVF and hormonal contraception from the legislation was briefly introduced—and then withdrawn—by Democratic state Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, after she warned the bill would “deny Iowans reproductive freedom,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported.
Chief Critics
Iowa Democrats have argued the measure could threaten IVF care because its definition of “unborn person” starts at fertilization. In Alabama, a court ruling that said embryos are legally human led some clinics to stop IVF treatment, partly because some embryos can be discarded or damaged during the IVF process. Wessel-Kroeschell told the Capital Dispatch the inclusion of the “unborn person” language could cause the “same chaos” for IVF in Iowa as in Alabama, while Democratic state Rep. Jennifer Konfrst argued state Republicans “will stop at nothing to ban abortion, even if it means criminalizing people undergoing IVF treatments.” The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee also decried the vote, with its president Heather Williams claiming the bill “shows that what happened in Alabama last month doesn’t just stay in one state.”
Contra
Facing mounting bipartisan pushback to the Alabama Supreme Court’s controversial decision last month to consider frozen unborn embryos as children, Alabama’s Republican Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed into law a bill protecting providers who provide IVF. That law protects providers from criminal prosecution and lawsuits for the death of an embryo during IVF, and soon after its passage, multiple clinics resumed IVF treatment.
Key Background
Immediately after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, a series of GOP-led states banned or heavily restricted abortion. Some advocates warned these bans could be interpreted to restrict fertility treatments—even if unintentionally—because IVF clinics can discard or freeze surplus embryos. A judge in Iowa blocked a six-week abortion ban last July just days after Reynolds signed the ban into law, restoring the state’s ban at 22 weeks. The move puts Iowa in an island of Midwestern states surrounded by states with stricter abortion bans—neighboring Missouri and South Dakota both ban abortions in almost all scenarios, while Nebraska bans it at 12 weeks, though the practice remains legal in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Further Reading
Abortion Remains Legal In Iowa After Judge Blocks 6-Week Abortion Ban (Forbes)
Some IVF Providers In Alabama Will Resume Procedure After Gov. Kay Ivey Signs Bill Protecting Them Into Law (Forbes)
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