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Des Moines, IA (KCCI) — Statehouse Republicans passed a bill Tuesday that could send a person to prison for life if they cause the death of a fetus, even if they did not know the mother was pregnant.
Republican Sen. Jake Chapman sponsored the bill, which passed 31-18 on a party-line vote.
“Finally, we have a bill that recognizes the rights of that human child in the womb,” Chapman said.
The bill would lay down life-in-prison sentences to anyone who causes the death of a fetus while committing a crime.
“This affirms that when you kill someone inside of the womb, it holds the same penalties as someone outside of the womb,” Chapman said.
Despite sponsoring numerous of anti-abortion bills, Chapman maintains the fetal homicide bill has nothing to do with abortion.
“This is nonconsensual,” he said. “This is against a mother’s will.”
Democrats argue the bill creates a bad precedent by establishing “personhood” for a fetus.
Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, said the bill comes with broad ramifications.
“This bill could prevent Iowans from starting a family using (in vitro fertilization and surrogacy,” Petersen said. “This bill also could open the door to investigating all pregnancy loss, coming after women after some of the hardest moments of their life after losing a baby to miscarriage and stillbirth.”
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland said in a statement that Chapman added “personhood” language to the bill just before it was passed and that bill lays groundwork to ban abortions all together by “by giving a fertilized egg the same legal rights and protections as a person.”
Erin Davison-Rippey, Planned Parenthood Iowa’s state executive director, said, “These changes would have far-reaching, unintended consequences, including outlawing certain forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization. A woman’s decisions about pregnancy must be made between her and her doctor, without political interference.
Davison-Rippey went on to say that the “last-minute approach to the amendment prevented Iowans from having a voice in the process. These leaders have blatantly disregarded legislative rules that have been in place for decades to ensure a transparent and inclusive lawmaking process in Iowa.”
Chapman maintains the stiffer penalties would only be triggered when someone commits a crime, like a robbery or operating while intoxicated.
The bill now moves to the Iowa House.
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