Statement from Senator Joe Bolkcom: “Today I’m introducing a new bill in the Ways and Means Committee, Senate Study Bill 1212, that is consistent with Iowans’ values, does not endanger a woman’s health or safety, and takes measures to ensure we provide the appropriate standard of care necessary to save lives.” |Statement from Senator Joe Bolkcom:
“Today I’m introducing a new bill in the Ways and Means Committee, Senate Study Bill 1212, that is consistent with Iowans’ values, does not endanger a woman’s health or safety, and takes measures to ensure we provide the appropriate standard of care necessary to save lives.”
“The bill is available on the web at www.legis.iowa.gov.
“The bill uses the Certificate of Need process to ensure that a new abortion facility which performs abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization is in close proximity to an Iowa hospital with the appropriate level of perinatal care to protect the life or health of the woman and the fetus.
“As we engage in this debate, we need to be honest about the circumstances under which a woman pursues these procedures. In 2009, there were only 6 abortions in Iowa that occurred after 20 weeks, and all of them involved some kind of medical complication.
“This bill protects the life and health of the mother and the fetus when a woman is faced with this terrible choice. What it doesn’t do is meddle in a family’s gut-wrenching decision about what to do when a planned pregnancy goes terribly wrong.
“I expect to hold a subcommittee on this bill at 3:45PM tomorrow.”
