Meeting Public Comments

Names and comments are public records. Remaining information is considered a confidential record.

Comments Submitted:

01-29-2024

Rachel Meyer []

You must reject HF 2057! This will be so detrimental to my community and does not represent the beliefs and wants of me and my community. To go forward with this will be to dip your hands willing and knowingly in the blood of innocent people in your own community

01-29-2024

Gabriela Fuentes []

Please VOTE NO on HF2057. The state has failed twice to find a contractor to run the program, which was created in 2022 and requires a thirdparty administrator with at least three years of experience to administer it. This bill would allow the state to run the program, but also removes the threeyear requirement for contractors, resulting in illegitimate organizations being eligible to receive millions of taxpayer dollars. HF2057 also reduces transparency for the public by removing the requirement for program administrator and subcontractor criteria to be published on the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services website. Iowans need to access to quality health care, and not fake centers that use deceiving information to force pregnancy. I urge you to VOTE NO on HF2057!

01-29-2024

Brooke Goldin []

Iowans need to access to quality health care and these centers are NOT an acceptable solution to the very real problems that exist in accessing sexual and reproductive health in Iowa. We deserve and demand better. Please listen to your constituents and VOTE NO on HF2057.

01-29-2024

Jennifer Kesler []

Enough is enough, We the people do not want this! Vote No, to protect the health of women in Iowa. I am appalled that this is being proposed. The skyrocketing STI rates and maternal mortality rates speak volumes for what you are doing to women in Iowa. We the people of Iowa demand better access to care for all !

01-29-2024

Carol Teare []

Aa a lifelong resident of Iowa, I am urging you to VOTE NO on HF2057. Please listen and respond to the vast majority of your constituents, who want good medical care and freedom for women to choose their own reproductive and medical care. it is my body and my choice not yours.

01-29-2024

Tory Thompson []

Please reject HF2057 due to tax payer dollars going to unqualified organizations with preconceived agendas about reproductive health. There should be more accountability not less when it comes to funding organizations with tax payer money.

01-29-2024

Marion Pruitt-Jefferson []

I urge you to vote against HF 2057. Providing public funding for faith based "clinics" that do not provide women with the information they need to make an informed decision about an unplanned pregnancy is wrong. Conservative Evangelical Christians are entitled to their opinions but not my tax dollars, and certainly not personal decisions regarding family planning.

01-29-2024

Jennifer Olsen [Olsen Law Firm]

Please vote no to this and any law that controls women's bodies in 2024. This is antiAmerican and dangerous. Women will die. We live in a free country where women get to choose what to do with their own bodies and access reproductive care without government oversight. Women have miscarriages on a regular basis and this law will hinder appropriate medical care for these women. Not only are you taking women's rights away with a yes vote = you are taking women's lives away. VOTE NO and start thinking and caring about women in Iowa. It is terrible but where is the legislation that controls men's bodies? Why not take away men's rights for a change? Anti = freedom is what this legislation is. It makes me ashamed to live in this state. AntiFreedom!

01-29-2024

Karen M Manning []

Please do not advance HF2057. Iowa has serious problems related to pregnancy and birth, but this plan does not address them. Rather, it funnels resources away from hospitals and clinics that are providing real services.Iowans deserve better!

01-29-2024

Lisa simonetta []

Vote No. My fear is that these centers are promoting their own agendas and not considering the health of the woman seeking assistance. Are counsellors talking women in to continuing with highrisk pregnancies. Is the option of terminating a pregnancy part of the counseling?I don't know what privacy issues might be violated by sharing information with these centers. Do these centers have to adhere to the same privacy laws as medical facilities?

01-29-2024

Norman Friedrich []

Please vote no on HF 2057. I believe it is not appropriate to lower the standards for administering this program. I am concerned that the change in accountability requirements would allow taxpayer funds to be abused.

01-29-2024

Abby Michael []

Please VOTE NO on HF2057. Crisis pregnancy centers aka antiabortion centers do not provide scientific and medically accurate information for pregnant people. These centers put Iowans in danger and will continue to do so. Iowans deserve high quality, scientifically accurate sexual and reproductive healthcare.

01-29-2024

Marketa Oliver []

I am very concerned about HF2057. This bill potentially lowers the standards for an administrator for what is likely an illadvised program to begin with. In lowering the requirements, the State is positioning itself to potentially send significant taxpayer dollars to illegitimate organizations. Reproductive health care in Iowa is not in good condition and STI rates have skyrocketed recently. I am confident our elected representatives want to actually represent the people of Iowa, who value good use of their money, transparency, and fairness. I am conferenced that this bill does not accomplish those underlying values. Thank you.

01-29-2024

Kelle Kolkmeier [Kolkmeier]

I am writing to demand that you VOTE NO on HF2057. This is yet another attempt at controlling half of the population. I remember a time when Iowa was looked to as a beacon in education and individual rights. I am appalled at where we are and the direction we are headed. As of 2021, 49.2% of Iowa's population were women. We will not tolerate being treated as inferior! We are perfectly capable of making health decisions that are in our best interest. You would never dream of attempting to legislate what a man can and cannot do with his body. We are not going away, we are united, and we will not be broken!!VOTE NO!Kelle Kolkmeier

01-29-2024

Andrea Greiner []

Vote no on HF2057. This is money wasted on clinics who spread false information about pregnancy and abortion to vulnerable women. If you are unable to find administrators to run this program, that means it is a bad program that no one wants to lead. Lowering the standards and eliminating the time frame results in money wasted with no oversight. I don't want my tax dollars spent this way.

01-29-2024

Tammy Calhoun []

How could you advance HF 2057 to full committee after hearing about experiences at these anti abortion centers? My taxpayer dollars should not be used for a program with low standards or without accountability and transparency. I urge you to reject HF 2057. The women of Iowa deserve better and government has no business weighing in on our healthcare choices.

01-29-2024

Tracy Creason []

I do not support HF2057 as it does not support the needs of Iowans.Iowans need support for their decisions on reproductive healthcare and support when they determine it time for them to become parents. Iowans need accurate and trusted medical care from licensed medical personnel. ABORTION IS HEALTHCARE and Iowans deserve access to privacy in their healthcare decisions.Pregnancy support centers do not offer accurate medical advice or have licensed medical personnel providing counseling or healthcare services even though HF2057 requires this. The one mission of these centers is to coerce people into maintaining their pregnancies with promises of continued support and care during and after birth. This care is limited and generally disappears once a pregnant person is past the point of having an abortion. There are not supportive services or lists to maintain services, no referral services, no experts in the area of reproductive healthcare to make these pregnancy support centers safe and capable of providing the services HF2057 requires and that Iowa tax payers are being asked to support. Pregnancy support centers, as stated in this bill, cannot refer a person for an abortion or reproductive healthcare so they are truly not supportive as they have just one agenda, to prevent abortions, not help people with reproductive needs. These centers are deceptive as they mimic true clinics and advertise with misleading and false information.If Iowa Republicans want to truly support their citizens with maternal and reproductive healthcare needs, then support nonprofit agencies like Planned Parenthood who provide services to all Iowans, including birth control, accurate sex education, medical exams and testing by actual licensed healthcare professionals. Pregnancy support centers should not get funding from Iowa taxpayers and should be shut down for misleading the public. Vote NO on HF2057!

01-29-2024

Ashley Shewmaker []

You must VOTE NO to HF 2057! Directing money to antiabortion centers is NOT a solution for the issues we are facing. Women having full bodily autonomy and full right to choose and full support and help with medical needs and full healthcare rights (because abortion care IS healthcare) that is the only way forward, the only solution.

01-29-2024

Janice Hawkins []

Please reject HF 2057 for the following reasons:1. Acknowledge that Texas has failed at attempting similar legislation. Why would we repeat that?2. The desired plan is falling apart with the inability to secure qualified people. Why would we "dumb it down" by reducing the employment standards? Doesn't this failure point out this idea needs to be scrapped as well.3. Of all the women I know who have been pregnant, never once have I heard any of them say.."I want to go to a center that will help support my pregnancy". I don't think there's a "customer base" for this concept. 4. I would describe HF 2057 as a poor solution to a "problem" has not been clearly articulated.I trust you will respectfully listen carefully to all of the oral and written comments. Thank you.

01-29-2024

Becky Klein []

I strongly urge you to vote NO on HF 2057. This proposed legislation does not align with what Iowans want. You need to actually listen to your constituents and what we're asking for. These socalled pregnancy centers don't provide full and accurate information to pregnant people. By deceiving people and forcing them into unwanted pregnancies, you're destroying trust and lives. The fact we cannot find an administrator is a huge sign that this program is doomed; we're better off going back to square one and starting over. Build a program based on actual science and keep faith out of it that's what our nation was founded on. Let the churches stand up and support pregnant people and babies.

01-29-2024

Kaibrea Schoning []

Born and raised in Iowapremed student at Iowa State University who is (was) dedicated to serving Iowans in my future career as an OB/GYN. Not anymore, though. You people make it so easy to want to leave Iowa. Its a difficult pill to swallow knowing Ive given my life to becoming a doctor but will have to deal with policy restricting me from treating my patients with the care they need and deserve. If you want to be in the exam room so badly, you should've gone to medical school.

01-30-2024

Harley R []

Please vote no as this bill violates all of our rights not just women. This impacts all of us and our ability to make decisions with our families and medical professionals which none of the people who are in politics are trained or qualified to make those decisions for their constituents. Please respect our right to choose what is done with and to our bodies, allow us to be sovereign in our decisions to care for ourselves and our communities which continue to be at odds with bills like this serving only to divide us further. This is not just about women this is about all of us and it is time for us to move past the fears and unite over the fact if we dont no one but those in power will have the choice to choose and those choices wont benefit anyone else but the people who are sitting at the table. Please allow our collective right to be sovereign and leave medical decisions and anything in which a medical degree or schooling is required for practices and procedures and advising to medical needs anything within the scope of what requires the person & their physician/medical advice to tjose who are qualified and understand the risks for each patient they see. This is our right to live a happy and healthy life as stated in the Iowa Constitution this and any other bills or mandates that dictacte medical care without consulting with a professional is dangerous and infringes on our ability to live happy lives in this state which already struggles with an overwhelming number of people under the age 35 leaving this state to not come back. Its not like we have much to offer here other than the ability to choose what is best for our own health and families wellbeing.

01-30-2024

Gail Zlatnik []

HF 2057 There is no more significant decision a woman can make than that to bear a child. Pregnancy is only a beginningto the state of motherhood, which lasts till death. Raising a child "takes a village," as we know, yet no village can substitute for being wanted and loved from the start. That State legislators would assume that pregnancy support and antiabortion counseling would ensure a safe and loving upbringing for any child seems disrespectful of women, and thoughtless about the years ahead. Please consider Iowa's records for education, nutrition, housing, and gun safety before you tell any woman that youll help her through her pregnancy.

01-30-2024

Patricia Magle MD []

To the Committee:As a family medicine physician, I do not want my tax dollars to go to funding MOM centers where the providers are unlicensed and unqualified, with a political agenda which is injurious to the health of its clients. Please vote "no" on this bill. Thank you for your attention

01-30-2024

Judah Richardson []

Iowa's sexual and reproductive health care infrastructure is failing Iowans, and directing money to antiabortion centers is not a solution for the issues we are facing. In proposing HF 2057, legislators are lowering the standards for an administrator of the program and removing the threeyear requirement for these centers. The proposal could result in illegitimate organizations receiving millions of taxpayer dollars. It also reduces transparency for the program that is modeled after a Texas program that is fraught with misuse and fraud. If politicians are committed to sinking more funding into this program, it should at least come with increased accountability and transparency, not less.

01-30-2024

Randall Goblirsch []

As a woman and a mother, it's clear to see our state's sexual and reproductive healthcare infrastructure is failing Iowans. Directing money to antiabortion centers is not a solution for the issues we are facing and the proposal in this bill could result in wasting millions of taxpayer dollars. I urge you to VOTE NO on HF2057.

01-30-2024

Mollie Hammer PT, DPT []

As a licensed health care professional it is my duty to treat the person in front of me to best of my ability with no other agenda in the room. These "providers" at clinics are unlicensed and unqualified to treat patients. They do not have to give medically accurate information, and use damaging tactics such as shame and guilt to coerce patients into making a decision with a formed agenda in mind. Tax dollars should be spent at hospitals and clinics that provide unbiased care to all of the community. I urge you to vote "No."

01-30-2024

Josephine O'Donnell []

I'm writing to urge you to vote NO on HF2057, which would provide millions of dollars for a program that provides inaccurate information to people, with no accountability for how the program is run or how our taxpayer dollars are spent. This program does nothing substantive to actually help Iowans but rather stands to harm them. It's clear that no professional of good standing wants to be responsible for running this program. Those who do not have proper credentials or certifications. Why would we deliberately put women and girls in harm's way?

01-30-2024

Gordie Felger []

VOTE NO on HF2057. First you use my tax dollars to fund private schools. Now you want me to pay for "clinics" where the staff lies to people and pressures them to give birth? No thanks! The consolidation of power in Iowa is getting out of hand. The Republican party used to be about "small government" and local control. Now the governor wants state control of all boards and agencies, the AEAs, the public education system, access to healthcare, access to knowledge, etc. I have an idea. If the Republicans want to have so much control over our lives and want to force people to give birth, regardless of the outcome, let's try this. We make the Statehouse and the governor's office dropoff points for infants whose parents can't care for them. Take some of the burden off the hospitals. If you're so eager to "save the babies," why don't you take care of them? I'm sure your staff wouldn't mind running nurseries in addition to their other duties.Oh, and since you're so invested in people's private lives, how about a Statehouse delivery center? You claim to know so much about the practice of medicine. I'm sure some of you wouldn't mind taking time out of your day to deliver a few babies. If you want control, take responsibility! This sounds reasonable to me. I urge you to VOTE NO on HF2057. Taxpayer money should not fund fake "clinics."

01-30-2024

Dawn Willging [None]

Is the only freedom that matters to this group of Republican legislators the freedom to carry a gun?Other than making sure guns can be taken anywhere, anytime? Seems like it. Iowas prizing of liberty and maintaining rights is no more. We have a government in Iowa which no longer champions either. This bill among all the other forced birth laws in this state, is another step in the direction of government overreach against liberty and rights of the people.

01-30-2024

Ethan Douglass []

It is unfortunate that Iowa representatives continue to sacrifice accountability to further their political and religious agendas. In all sectors of public service, but especially in health care, Iowans expect their services to be provided by experienced and respected professionals. The failure to secure competent thirdparty administrators is not vindication that standards should be lowered, but instead highlights the sparce credentials of the program's advocates. The MOMS program has not proven itself to improve patient outcomes in other states and will continue to siphon away needed public healthcare funds while failing Iowans. Vote No on HF 2057 and stand up against the government controlling Iowan's healthcare decisions.