Washington, D.C. — Earlier this week, the Iowa Legislature passed in the dark of night Senate File 359, which would effectively ban abortion after six weeks—often before many women even become aware they are pregnant. The bill now awaits action by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R). Jamila Taylor, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement in response to the bill’s passage:
Protecting access to reproductive rights and health care is fundamental to women’s economic empowerment. Senate File 359, which would ban most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and would be the most radical ban of its type in the country, demonstrates the Iowa Legislature’s utter contempt for women and the difficult, constitutionally protected choices that women make when deciding whether to continue a pregnancy. Gov. Reynolds should spare Iowa women—and her state—the embarrassment by refusing to sign this stain into statute.
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