Iowa Republicans rally around Mississippi abortion case

By: - December 1, 2021 7:01 pm

U.S. Supreme Court building. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Supreme Court)

As the Supreme Court heard arguments on a Mississippi abortion law, Republican members of Iowa’s D.C. delegation tweeted their support for upholding the law and overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

The Mississippi law bans most abortions beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy. That would be several weeks earlier than Roe v. Wade, which established that people have the right to an abortion until the fetus could sustain itself outside the womb.

Rep. Ashley Hinson and Sen. Joni Ernst posted videos to social media on Wednesday, calling upon their experience as mothers in their support of a 15-week ban.

“As the mom of two boys myself, I know that at 15 weeks, moms can feel their babies move, and the baby’s heart is fully developed,” Hinson said in a video. “So this law should stand.”

In a video with several female senators, Sen. Joni Ernst said the Supreme Court decision will decide if the government can protect “unborn babies — the most vulnerable in our society.”

“There is no more important job than being a mom,” Ernst said. 

Rep. Randy Feenstra said the court case, with its potential to overturn the landmark Roe case, “is a beacon of hope for innocent life.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley kept his support simple online: his campaign tweeted just, “#ProLife.”

Iowa Democrats condemned the Mississippi law and urged the court to uphold Roe.

Democrat Cindy Axne tweeted that the court “must reject this attempt to overturn nearly 50 years of legal precedent.” She also advocated for the Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that would create a federal law to protect the right to an abortion.

The Iowa Democratic Party also encouraged the passage of the bill.

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Katie Akin
Katie Akin

Katie Akin is a former Iowa Capital Dispatch reporter. Katie began her career as an intern at PolitiFact, debunking viral fake news and fact-checking state and national politicians. She moved to Iowa in 2019 for a politics internship at the Des Moines Register, where she assisted with Iowa Caucus coverage, multimedia projects and the Register’s Iowa Poll. She became the Register’s retail reporter in early 2020, chronicling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Central Iowa’s restaurants and retailers.

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