DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) 鈥� Republicans in Iowa's House of Representatives approved a bill Thursday that would criminalize the death of an 鈥渦nborn person鈥� 鈥� over Democrats鈥� concerns about how it might apply to , after an found frozen embryos can be considered children.
Iowa鈥檚 law currently outlines penalties for termination or serious injury to a 鈥渉uman pregnancy,鈥� but the proposed bill would amend the language to pertain to 鈥渃ausing of death of, or serious injury to, an unborn person,鈥� defined as 鈥渁n individual organism 鈥� from fertilization to live birth.鈥�
It鈥檚 one of many bills being considered by state Legislatures around the country that would for embryos and fetuses, a long-time goal of the anti-abortion movement.
The bill still would need to pass the state Senate and be signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds to become law.
Referencing Alabama鈥檚 case, a Democrat in Iowa鈥檚 House proposed, but ultimately withdrew, an amendment to explicitly carve out protections for IVF, a procedure that become pregnant.
鈥淭his bill right here 鈥� puts IVF at risk whether you want to believe it or not,鈥� said Iowa Democrat Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell. 鈥淲e are now seeing the damage these laws can have on people seeking and providing reproductive health care.鈥�
The majority ruling of Alabama鈥檚 Supreme Court treats an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under the state鈥檚 wrongful death law, explicitly stating 鈥渦nborn children are 鈥榗hildren.'鈥� That led three major providers of IVF in Alabama to pause services because of concerns about liabilities.
Iowa Republican Rep. Skyler Wheeler said the bill is far more simple and that Democratic lawmakers are 鈥渢rying to turn this into a conversation that it is not.鈥�
The Alabama case, Wheeler said, pertains to that state鈥檚 laws and courts, not Iowa鈥檚, and there have already that IVF providers are protected from liability related to the destruction of or damage to an embryo.
Wessel-Kroeschell said that exception is not well-defined in Iowa's law, nor is it clear how Iowa or federal courts might interpret the new language, which she said enshrines 鈥渢he myth of fetal personhood in our state code.鈥�
鈥淲e simply cannot know how far this reasoning will be taken,鈥� she said.
Earlier in the afternoon, House Republicans withdrew a bill that would require a father to pay child support starting at fertilization after Democrats pressed on the potential implications, including the possibility of a court order for risky paternity testing of a fetus.
Hannah Fingerhut, The Associated Press
