Meeting Public Comments

Subcommittee meeting and times are as follows:

A bill for an act relating to abortions including informed consent, dispensing abortion-inducing drugs, and reporting abortion-inducing drug complications.(See HF 2563.)

Subcommittee members: Wood-CH, Barker, Wessel-Kroeschell

Date: Thursday, February 12, 2026

Time: 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM

Location: RM 102

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

Comments Submitted:

02-10-2026

Marygrace Elson MD [American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists]

OPPOSE I am a boardcertified obstetrician gynecologist and have practiced for 40 years. This bill contains confusing language which may cause harmful delays or denials of care. The same drugs used for medication abortion are also used to treat a miscarriage. Both drugs named in this bill are utilized to treat other medical conditionsmisoprostol for postpartum hemorrhage, which can be lifethreatening. There are no scientific data showing that medication abortion reversal works. This bill forces physicians to provide anecdotal information not based in medical science, in violation of medical ethics. The reporting requirements in this bill will add administrative burden to our already overworked physicians and adds new exposure for potential legal action against physicians, medical teams and pharmacistsa worsening climate in which to practice. Iowa already struggles to recruit and retain physicians and other health care team members, especially in rural areas.

02-11-2026

Diane Duncan-Goldsmith

HSB 704 prevents women from making private, personal medical decisions regarding reproductive care, decisions which should be made by the woman and her physician. This bill requires a physical examination and administrations of abortion medications in person, while also informing patients about abortion reversals, a concept not supported by science. The bill is complicated and dangerous, seeking to control reproductive rights. Iowa has OB/GYN deserts which have already pushed hard to access OB/GYN care further out of reach for rural Iowans. This bill is confusing and doesnt protect patients or improve care. Medication abortion is the most common form of abortion care for patients nationwide and is safe and effective. Everyone should have access to affordable, quality health care, including birth control and the privacy to make reproductive choices; this bill limits those choices and limits accurate and sciencebased information which should be shared about all pregnancy options.

02-12-2026

Chelsea Mumm

I strongly urge you to reject HSB 704. There are decades of scientifically sound research, as well as FDA approval, proving that medication abortion (mifepristone and misoprostol) is safe. Forcing patients to hear and doctors to offer the language laid out in this bill is not based on data or reason. This is purely a political attempt to further restrict healthcare access in Iowa, sow fear among patients and doctors, and insert governmental in control into healthcare decisions where it is unnecessary and deeply concerning. Please consult the data when you are considering whether to move this bill forward. Please reject HSB 704.

02-12-2026

Dana Sanders

Unfortunately, your continued attempts to try to control the womans body yet being in favor of murderous ICE show that you really only care about control. You will not stop abortion. You are making it harder for medical professionals to do their job. You are not a doctor. Do not pass this.

02-11-2026

Kathleen Wandro

I respectfully urge you to oppose HSB 704. This bill would further restrict access to abortion care in Iowa at a time when services are already severely limited. Additional barriers do not improve health outcomesthey delay care, increase medical risk, and disproportionately impact lowincome and rural Iowans.Medical decisions should be made by patients in consultation with their physicians, not dictated by rigid statutory mandates that fail to account for complex clinical realities. Expanding restrictions also exposes the state to costly litigation and deepens division within our communities.Iowa families deserve policies grounded in public health, evidence, privacy, and personal autonomy. Please vote no on HSB 704.

02-11-2026

Teresa Wellman

OPPOSED. This legislature are not medical professionals and have no business trying to redefine the terms fetus and spontaneous abortion. This puts onerous and vague conditions on providers and their patients. For all the required data collection, exactly for what purpose? Data gathering without purpose is a waste of time and money. There are only two kinds of abortions, elective and spontaneous. A fetus is not an unborn child no matter how many times yall try to make it so. Nature is cruel and many pregnancies never make it to term. Any number of things can go wrong that forces women into unthinkable and agonizing decisions. Women need to be able to seek and get the immediate reproductive care they need and want without the baggage of this bill. Stay out of it. Oh, and a chemically induced abortion cannot be reversed. Quit pushing this falsehood.

02-11-2026

David Anderson

No on HSB 704. Why would I risk getting a person I love pregnant if the laws of this state mean that anything going wrong with said pregnancy could turn into a death sentence? If you want to grow the population (and hence economy) of our stake make pregnancy safer by allowing OB/GYNs to do their jobs without interfering. Both Viagra and pregnancy are more dangerous (have higher mortality rates) than medical abortion. Finally, I hear a lot about abortions that have been reversed. I have tried to find scientific evidence of this, and found none. I have found plenty of scientific papers pointing out that attempting to at best doesn't work, and may in fact be dangerous.

02-11-2026

Larissa Boeck

Oppose. It is not your job to legislate private medical decisions that take place between a doctor and patient. This bill politicizes medicine by overriding physicians' judgment. Mandates would expose providers to penalties, deterring them from offering care and exacerbating Iowa's OBGYN shortage which is already one of the worst in the U.S. This is seen as government overreach. GOP you claim to be party of small government. Stop legislating and restricting our state into the ground. Oppose this bill.

02-11-2026

Cecilia Roudabush

Vote NO on this bill. I do not want anyone to have an abortion. The safest sex is none. Contraception is the next best choice for safer sex. If partners are having sex and using protection they are being more responsible with their choice to not bring a child into the world. Should the unthinkable happen such as human error (forgetting to take your pill) or mechanical error (the condom broke), than couples should be able to choose use a pill within 48 hours. Who are we all to say that they do not have that right to choose that option? If it's happening multiple times, they need education on a different form of contraception. Anyone who thinks that talking the pill early in pregnancy is wrong, especially for those who were raped or were a victim of incest, needs to show us a plan for how that mother and child will be cared for going forward. Don't say "have the child no matter what" then say they can't have food stamps, free childcare so that they can work, or housing assistance.

02-12-2026

Sadye Scott-Hainchek

I strongly oppose HSB 704. Medication abortion has been repeatedly proven to be safer than penicillin or Viagra (https://www.cnn.com/health/abortionpillsafetydg), yet legislators are focusing only on the medication that only people with uteruses can use. Each time reproductive rights are attacked, we, ironically, hear more stories about medical crises, caused first by the exodus of OBGYNs from this state, then by the fear put in remaining medical professionals that if they treat a pregnant woman whose life is in danger but not "enough" danger according to lawmakers with no medical degrees they will face legal consequences. Sepsis keeps getting brought up; one way to protect pregnant woman from sepsis is to allow them to terminate pregnancies that have gone medically wrong. Listen to the numerous medical professionals who spoke at previous abortionrelated subcommittees and who will surely speak at this one, and vote NO on this blatantly discriminatory bill.