The Iowa Senate voted Wednesday to pass a bill banning abortions if an unborn child’s heartbeat is detected upon ultrasound, moving Iowa one step closer to becoming the first state to ban abortions.
Iowa lawmakers voted 30 to 20 Wednesday for Senate Bill 3143, which outlaws abortion upon the presence of a fetal heartbeat. A heartbeat typically becomes detectable between six and nine weeks gestation. The pending legislation entails any doctor being charged with a Class D felony — subject to five years in prison and a $750-to-$7,500 fine — if they perform or attempt an abortion on a woman after an unborn child’s heartbeat is detected. The bill does, however, allow abortion in cases where the mother’s life is in danger. No exceptions for rape, incest or fetal abnormalities are included in the bill.
“This bill is the logical beginning point for all of civil governance,” Iowa Republican Sen. Amy Sinclair said, according to The Courier. It gets to “the very heart and soul of what it means to be an American, what it means to be a person,” she added. Sinclair was pregnant at age 19; and after listening to the heartbeat of her son, she realized the baby inside her was not simply fetal tissue.
“Iowa would be the first state to recognize what science already affirms: a baby in the womb has her own unique DNA, her own unique heartbeat, is her own unique person. She’s a baby and she deserves to have her birthday,” The Family Leader President Bob Vander Plaats said, The Courier reported. The Family Leader seeks to “strengthen families, by inspiring Christ-like leadership in the home, the church, and the government,” according to its website.
The Senate vote comes after an early February senate panel vote to approve the bill. Iowa’s house of representatives is currently reviewing a similar bill, H.F. 2163. (RELATED: Iowa Senate Passes Fetal Heartbeat Abortion Bill)
Other Senate members who voted against the bill, however, see the measure as an assault on women’s rights rather than a necessary protection of life. “This bill is dangerous. This bill is unconstitutional. This bill devalues Iowa women,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen said, according to The Courier.
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