Meeting Public Comments

Jamie Orourke []

This bill aims to support childbirth. We should be supporting women, including supporting their right to decision when and with whom to have a family. Abortion is healthcare. Pregnancy centers misrepresent themselves as health centers. They should be more regulated, not less. I do not support this legislation.

Elizabeth King []

I am not in support of this bill. I do not want deregulation of these clinics. I believe women need full information about EVERY option, including abortion. This is true health care.

Patsy Martinson []

I oppose state funding and deregulation of anti abortion centers. The Reproductive Freedom Majority allows for everyone to access privacy in their own healthcare decisions, regardless of the choices they make.Doctors are medical experts, unlike Republican legislators who are simply in lockstep with the arrogance to think they know better. I support everyone's right to healthcare autonomy.

Beth Drewelow []

Women need the support of medical professionals, not political hacks. Women (for the most part) want to be mothers. Apparently, some politicians in this statelike in Texas and certain other statesthink that it better if both the woman and her fetus die. Pregnancy should be a time of joy rather than fear.

Margo Stites []

I do not support passage of this bill. These centers do not support the health and wellbeing of women. If anything, they should be more regulated, ensuring that they are staffed with qualified medical professionals and that they offer all services related to pregnancy, including abortion.

Glinda Cooley []

Abortion is healthcare, abortion helps keep stable families stable. All of the statistical data both medical and economic and in mental health show that an informed choice to abort provides better long term outcomes for many women/people with uteruses and families. You shouldn't be allowed to offer pregnancy counseling at all without discussing abortion as a supportive option.

Flannery Currin []

These centers already mislead vulnerable members of our community who think they will receive healthcare. Deregulating them will only make them more dangerous for community members looking for help, not provide them with more support or options.

Pat Hoffman [NA]

I do not support this bill. Women have the right to their privacy to make the decisions that do effect their lives. Doctors also need to be protected from these extreme measures that limit their treatment of patients.

Lora Fraracci []

There is absolutely no important information in this bill. It's like you guys just slap some stuff onto a piece of paper and call it a bill. And call it a day. Moms and babies and families are too important for that. Right now, iowa is having a major issue with proper prenatal care in our rural areas. This bill does nothing to address that. Our maternal death rate has gone up and this legislature sees no reason to deal with that. It's almost like republicans don't like moms and babies.

Pat Higby []

If rape is the use of a person's body without their consent, then forced pregnancy is gestational rape. Denying a woman the right to an abortion is supporting rape. Legislators do not have the right to control women's bodies. I oppose this law.

Beth Winterhof []

It is wrong to subject women to these concerted pressure tactics to try to frighten them into doing what they choose to do with their bodies. Stay out of bedroom legislation. If you are concerned about the wellbeing of the lives of people, do more to help the women and children that have come into the world. Increase wages and options for individuals. Provide more childcare and better resources for nutrition. Abortion is healthcare.

Mathews Teresa [- None -]

I do NOT support this bill. I do NOT want deregulation of these "clinics".As a woman who believes in Reproductive Freedom, I believe all persons, including WOMEN deserve Health Care Autonomy. Women should be respected to make these decisions with factual information from Doctors, not unregulated personnel. FOCUS your energies and funding on appropriate full Health Care throughout IA, especially in Rural areas which are "Health Care Deserts" for OBGyn services.FOCUS your energies and funding on FEEDING the children who live in IA.

Fiona Schaack []

No set of rules will ever adequately address the spectrum of pregnancy emergencies or private reproductive health decisions we are entitled to make for ourselves. Stated "reported within appropriate time frame of event." What is the definition of an 'appropriate' time, any definition or brackets for such a topic is unjust. Any time frame is valid and should be met with the same empathy and treatment options.State Physician will... "use this information to determine if the fetal heartbeat exception for rape applies." This person was RAPED. They have already been violated, assaulted and carry mental and physical trauma from the event. And now the doctor gets to 'decide' if this person will be forced to go through with a pregnancy and birth. That is not acceptable. The person should be able to 100% choose for themselves as they were the ones to go through the horrific experience that will already affect them for the rest of their lives. Included One of the largest paragraphs states in great detail how the physician should go about the ultrasound in order to be sure of a fetal heartbeat, and then states that if the heartbeat is detected, the abortion won't be allowed. Legislatures put so much effort and thought and words into how the ultrasound should be performed instead of putting effort and empathy and words into preserving the life of the person pregnant, the person who will suffer if the abortion is not performed, the person who will have to abide to the states laws which incarcerate free will and liberty. Nowhere is the word "girl"i.e. a minormentioned or the protecting or saving the lives of Iowan women. You say you want less state control over your free will, yet you create state laws such as this to decrease the free will of over half the population.

Tyler Ingham []

Forcing the government into the personal decisions between an individual and their doctor is unAmerican and invasive. Shouldn't we be focusing on preventing government overreach?

Lina-Maria Murillo []

In a state with a dearth of good, sound maternal care, this law will only make it easier for fake clinics to continue to con women and other people seeking reproductive health care. When law makers suggest that there is no money to feed hungry children, and banning cities and counties from offering universal basic income for the poor, but there is funding and legislative support for non medical, pseudoreligious fake clinics, the move is nothing short of deranged. This is dangerous. You will subject thousands of Iowa women to fake reproductive maternal care all to advance a campaign against abortion that is deeply unpopular among all Iowans. Shameful.

Sophie Banegas []

I am a thirdyear medical student at the University of Iowa. I received a master's degree in clinical anatomy at UI as well. I grew up in Cumming, Iowa and have lived here my entire life. It is my intention, as of right now, to stay here in Iowa as an OB/Gyn physician to address the dire state of health in our state. This bill is dangerous and will unequivocally lead to the death and suffering of people who become pregnant in Iowa. The "Pregnancy care centers" that are referenced in this bill are violent and misleading clinics that work to force women into childbirth. Many of them do not even hire licensed health professionals. It is an insult to physicians and health professionals who dedicate 8+ years of their lives to education to allow these centers to continue to provide uninformed and inaccurate medical advice. Pregnancy is the singlehandedly the most dangerous thing a woman can choose to put her body through. The risk of death is higher in pregnancy than any other time in her lifetime. This is exacerbated by the poor maternal healthcare in this state. I am outraged at the potential for state funding for these centers that provide inaccurate and misleading information for a political gain. Along with other Iowans who have provided public comment, I urge the House not to pass this bill. Legislation has already entered the examination room between physicians and patients, and it makes our job harder every single day. Myself along with other future physicians do not want to work in a state where we are not able to provide evidencebased, safe, and comprehensive family planning to our patients. These bills are not only dangerous and will result in the death of women, but also will dissuade OB/Gyns to continue to practice in Iowa. Iowa is already the 51st in the nation, after Puerto Rico, in OB/Gyns per capita. This is dire. Do not pass legislation that will continue to harm Iowans. Instead, focus on providing food subsidies to the hungry children who have birthed and are living in Iowa who need our help.

Nix Slater-Scott []

I OPPOSE THIS BILL. HF 2057 targets abortion and bodily autonomy by funneling money into agencies that LIE to patients about possible care. If you pass this bill you DO NOT care about Iowans and no amount of lip service will be able to dig you out of a hole founded on lies and bigotry.

Loulwa Soweid []

I strongly oppose this bill unless abortion is added as a valid maternal support option; if it is not included, then these nonmedical clinics are NOT actually providing accurate information and comprehensive support options to their clients and are in fact intentionally manipulating and lying to them.