Iowa House Democrats on Thursday vowed to eliminate the state’s six-week abortion ban and enshrine abortion rights in the Iowa Constitution if they reclaim a majority in the Legislature in the November general election.
The House Democratic caucus unveiled its legislative priorities Thursday as they look to give a boost to down-ballot Democrats running for legislative seats in the Nov. 5 election, making the pitch to voters that they will enact policies more in line with what polling shows Iowans support if they topple Republicans’ trifecta of control over state government.
Iowa Poll: Most Iowans oppose state’s 6-week abortion ban law now in effect
House Democrats’ four priorities include:
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Defending and supporting public education.
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Protecting reproductive freedom.
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Legalizing recreational marijuana for adults.
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Lowering costs for Iowa families.
“We think it’s important we’re transparent with voters about the issue they care about,” House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst said. “… House Democrats are in line with the policies Iowans are asking for.”
Currently, Republicans maintain control of the governor’s office and both chambers of the Legislature, so Democrats would face a tall hurdle to enacting these priorities unless voters flip several GOP-held legislative seats in November.
Konfrst said Republican lawmakers are “about to be held accountable” for enacting unpopular policies including Iowa’s overhaul of Area Education Agencies, creation of taxpayer-funded education savings accounts and the six-week abortion ban.
“They’re going to have a different attitude when they come to the Legislature in January about the importance of listening to voters, because they will have just seen some of their colleagues lose their elections because they didn’t,” Konfrst said.
Melissa Saitz, the Iowa House Republicans communications director, said in a statement that the House GOP has grown its majority by improving educational opportunities, maintaining safe communities and “letting Iowans keep more of their hard-earned money.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds this spring signed into law a bill lowering Iowa’s income tax to a 3.8% flat rate next year, accelerating a series of planned cuts.
“Seeing the massive election success our agenda has had, it’s not surprising to see Democrats taking some cues out of our book,” Saitz said. “It’s great to hear Democrats will now join us in our work to support public education and make Iowa more affordable. Though most recently, their voting record shows votes against historic tax cuts for all Iowans and against public-school teacher pay raises.”
The teacher pay raises were included in the AEA overhaul legislation, which Democrats opposed.
Sights set on access to abortions, birth control, IVF
Iowa’s six-week abortion ban, the “fetal heartbeat law,” took effect in July after it was stalled in the courts.
One of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation, it prohibits abortion once embryonic cardiac activity is detected in a pregnancy and allows narrow exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormalities and to save the life of the pregnant woman.
Under Iowa’s previous law, abortions were allowed until about 20 weeks.
The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted earlier this month found that 59% of Iowans — including 69% of women — disapprove of the new restrictions. It found 37% of Iowans favor the new law, and 5% are not sure.
Iowa does not allow statewide referendums by citizen petition, so lawmakers would have to vote to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Iowa Democrats this year already tried and failed to pass a resolution to put a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights on the ballot.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Iowa ranks last in the U.S. for the number of OBGYNs per capita. House Minority Whip Lindsay James said she feared the six-week abortion ban would worsen the shortage.
“It’s about women’s reproductive health care in general,” James said. “This impacts every one who is interested in having in starting their family. And we are hearing time and time again at the doors that people want to be able to make these kinds of decisions without political interference.”
Besides protecting abortion rights, Konfrst said Democrats fear Republicans will target access to birth control and in vitro fertilization next.
Iowa Republicans backed a bill that would have criminalized the death of an “unborn person,” raising penalties for ending someone’s pregnancy without their consent. But the Senate did not take up the legislation out of concerns for how it would affect IVF.
Iowa Democrats this year introduced legislation that would have codified the right to access contraception. It never advanced out of committee.
GOP-backed education laws on Democrats’ list to reverse
Reynolds has led the charge on hotly contested education policies that Konfrst said she would like to reverse.
The Winsor Heights Democrat said she would like to defund education savings accounts, which lawmakers passed in 2023 to allow families to apply for about $7,800 per child in taxpayer-funded scholarships to pay private school expenses like tuition and fees.
Konfrst said the “hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money going to unaccountable private schools, should go to public schools instead.”
As of July, more than 30,000 students had already been approved for education savings accounts for the 2024-25 school year. That could cost the state more than $234 million if all those students successfully enrolled in an accredited private school.
On the doors, James also said Democrats are hearing from voters concerned with the bill Reynolds earlier this year signed into law that overhauls the funding structure and responsibilities of the AEAs, which have offered services such as special education, general education and media to school districts and students.
The law this year keeps 40% of the money the AEAs previously received for general education and media services with the AEAs, while the remaining 60% goes to school districts. Next year, all of the money — worth about $68 million — will go to schools.
Data from Iowa’s nine AEAs showed they were starting the school year with 429 fewer staffers than in 2023. The overhaul has left parents concerned that their children will get reading help and other services they need, James said.
“We want every single kid in the state of Iowa to have their best chance at life,” James said. “We want them to thrive in public schools.”
Legalizing marijuana on the agenda, though unlikely under Gov. Kim Reynolds
While a 2021 Iowa Poll showed most adult Iowans support legalizing marijuana for recreational use, House Democrats are looking to deliver legislation they say voters want.
Reynolds is firmly opposed to legalizing marijuana for recreational use and in 2019 vetoed legislation that would have expanded Iowa’s medical marijuana program. But in the March 2021 Iowa Poll, 54% of adults say they favor legalizing marijuana for recreational use, 39% oppose it and 6% are unsure.
Despite the GOP governor’s opposition, Konfrst said “what we need to do is show voters who is there putting forward legislation that they’re asking for and who is stopping it and why, and so we need to raise awareness of the issue.”
James, a Dubuque Democrat, said neighboring states have made more progress on expanding recreational and medical marijuana use. Recreational use is legal in Illinois.
“This issue is very straightforward,” James said. “The product is here. It’s here in our state. And the most important thing we can do with that reality is to say we want to regulate it so that we can have a safe product, and we want to regulate it so that we can keep it out of the hands of kids.”
Reducing housing, child care expenses among Democrats’ 2025 targets
To lower costs for Iowans, Konfrst said Democrats would work with newly elected members to fine-tune legislation reducing everyday expenses such as housing and child care.
She said House Democrats would look to boost affordable housing options by either helping Iowans repair their homes or buy a home for the first time.
Konfrst also said Democrats would look to raise Iowa’s minimum wage of $7.25 per hour — the same as the federal minimum — and eliminate wage theft.
Democrats also would seek to restore collective bargaining rights, Konfrst said, after Iowa Republicans in 2017 scaled back a decades-old law governing union contract negotiations for the state’s public workers.
It limited most public-sector union contract negotiations only to base wages, blocking unions from negotiating with their employer on issues such as health insurance, evaluation procedures, staff reduction and leaves of absence for political purposes.
Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @marissajpayne.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Legislature: House Dems eye protecting abortion, legalizing marijuana
