|
Kim Reynolds on Abortion |
Hubbell: Legal. Will work to reverse IA's abortion ban, one of the strictest in the country.
Reynolds: Ban. Signed "Heartbeat Bill," banning abortion if fetal heartbeat detected. In 2010 said abortion should legally "be equivalent to murder," though would need to research potential penalties for doctors or women.
Healthcare: Let Planned Parenthood receive public funds for non-abortion health services?
Hubbell: Yes. Also former chair of Planned Parenthood of Mid-Iowa.
Reynolds: No. Support defunding Planned Parenthood.
As Reynolds inked the bill, backers' cheers nearly drowned out the echoing chorus of "My body, my choice" shouted by protesters just outside the door.
"I believe that all innocent life is precious and sacred," Reynolds said from her formal office before signing a bill that will outlaw nearly all abortions in the state. "And as governor, I have pledged to do everything in my power to protect it. And that's what I'm doing today."
Senate File 359 will take effect July 1, though Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa said they plan to quickly challenge the law. Under the legislation, physicians will be barred from performing most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. Experts said that heartbeat can be heard about six weeks into a pregnancy--often before a woman realizes she's pregnant.
"Well, I think it would be equivalent to murder," Reynolds said. "I would want to research that before I would lay specifically out what the penalties would be."
If someone is stabbed to death in front of Pizza Ranch now is the culprit guilty of the same crime as a doctor who performs an abortion?
"No," she said.
| |||||||||||||