Government : Hello District 84 from the State Capitol!

The Iowa State Legislature convened for a special session on July 11th to consider House File 732, also known as the fetal heartbeat bill. This bill prohibits elective abortions once a heartbeat is detected by ultrasound, which can be at about six weeks.

This bill is almost the exact same one that was passed and signed into law in 2018 but had been blocked by a court injunction. This ruling was then overturned by a subsequent ruling in 2022, which allowed the legislature to bring this forward for debate this year.

In the many emails sent to me against this bill, basically all of them mentioned this law takes away the rights of the woman. They all neglected one detail: the other person involved - the pre-born person in the womb. The pre-born person has the same rights as the woman carrying her or him. This pre-born person is exactly that - a person, and not a clump of disorganized cells (cancer, for example) that has no legitimate value.

In an article from Human Life International, https://www.hli.org/resources/fetal-pain-reason-end-abortion/, Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand, currently Professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, and Perioperative & Pain Medicine at Stanford Medicine Children's Health (also a Rhodes Scholar), submitted an expert report on fetal pain receptor development, found here: https://www.nrlc.org/uploads/fetalpain/AnandPainReport.pdf. Dr. Anand has "conducted intensive research and study on the development of pain and stress in the human newborn and fetus." Dr. Anand has found that at 6-8 weeks, "the brain waves can be recorded, and the nervous system starts to develop. The fetus' lips become sensitive to the touch around seven weeks. By eight weeks, she is moving around the uterus to make herself more comfortable. She begins to react to harmful stimuli."

HF 732 does have exceptions, which are for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. For example, if the mother has an ectopic pregnancy, which occurs in one to two percent of pregnancies, would be lethal to the mother, and this bill addresses that. During the public debate, Dr. Greg McKernan, Board Certified Family Physician with Obstetrics in Des Moines, gave testimony that he delivered over 2500 newborns.

Dr. McKernan stated: ectopic pregnancies are an "unavoidable danger to the mother. If allowed to continue its growth the mothers tube would rupture in a location of extremely plentiful blood supply and the mother would rapidly bleed to death. A situation in which we have no means to save the baby and can only save the mother's life - a condition provided by this bill. I urge you to support this bill and the valuable lives it will save".

Before HF 732, the "deadline" for abortions was 20 weeks in Iowa. According to www.babycenter.com, most babies can now survive outside the womb around 22 to 23 weeks. One mother who can attest to that is Jade Ewoldt of Jesup and formerly of La Porte City. She is the very proud mother of the miraculous identical twins Keeley and Kambry. These twins are kind of famous - they were the Guinness world record but are now the American record holder for twins born early at 22 weeks (https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2022/5/worlds-most-premature-twins-now-happy-three-year-olds-703005 )!! The twins will be five years old this November 24th!

For those who "follow the science", scientists discuss on the website www.livescience.com to hopefully find life on Mars. They report possibly "six methane emissions detected. Since all methane in Earth's atmosphere comes from biological sources, scientists are thrilled to find the gas on Mars. Isn't a pre-born child at 6 weeks gestation absolutely "life"?

I proudly voted yes to help pass this bill to protect the God-given value of all human life.

Please email me at Thomas.gerhold@legis.iowa.gov if you have any questions, comments, or concerns that need to be addressed.

I hope this finds you healthy, please be careful, and have a great week!