Latest news with #ZachWahls
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill on requiring fetal development instruction in Iowa schools heads to governor
Fetal development videos and graphics would have to be shown in Iowa classrooms under legislation that is headed to the governor's desk. (Photo via Getty Images) Iowa schools would have to show ultrasound videos and computer-generated graphics on fetal development in Iowa classrooms under legislation sent to the governor's desk Monday. Senate File 175, approved 33-16, would require human growth and development classes for Iowa students in grades 5-12 include ultrasound video and computer-generated rendering or animations depicting 'the humanity of the unborn child by showing prenatal human development, starting at fertilization.' This measure was modeled after laws in other states and similar bills brought up in previous sessions that referenced the 'Meet Baby Olivia' video created by anti-abortion group Live Action, though the 2025 legislation does not mention the video by name. The bill was amended by the House April 17 to ban materials on fetal development from being shown in classrooms if the entity that created it performs or 'promotes' abortions, or if it contracts, affiliates, or makes referrals to organizations that perform or promote abortions. Democrat in both chambers said this amendment would lead to inaccurate and biased material being shown in Iowa classrooms, as most of the medical organizations that work on issues related to pregnancy and fetal development perform or provide referrals for abortions when medically necessary. The measure only refers to 'abortion' at large, and does not exclude entities that only perform medically necessary abortions, such as in cases when the pregnancy puts the life of the mother at risk. The Mayo Clinic, a Minnesota-based health care provider, was brought up as an organization that would be excluded from school material under the bill despite being a leading professional source on fetal development. Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, also argued that material from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics would be excluded, as the UI hospital system performs abortions to save the life of the pregnant person. Wahls also said material developed by other UI entities like the proposed 'center for intellectual freedom' would also be excluded, as it is 'affiliated' with UIHC. 'I think it's very clear that by being an affiliate of an entity that performs abortions — and that is something that happens at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics — research, human-based, age-appropriate curriculum that was being developed at the University of Iowa, is no longer going to be acceptable in Iowa classrooms,' Wahls said. 'That is just very peculiar.' Sen. Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center, said he preferred the Senate version and felt the House amendment was 'probably unnecessary given the parameters of the original bill' — arguing that entities performing abortions would already be excluded from creating school materials under the original legislation, as the material is required to depict 'the humanity of the unborn child.' 'Entities that perform or promote abortions are liable to be biased against the humanity and inherent value of human life before birth, which is one of the central components of this bill,' Taylor said. 'That is not to say that everything they produce is false, but in order to be unbiased, it doesn't make sense to use prenatal development information from abortion advocates.' He said opponents were ignoring the language in the bill requiring the information shown in school classrooms be medically accurate and research-based. However, he said this material could show a 'biased' view if they perform abortions or support access to abortions, pointing to guidance from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to use the term 'embryo' instead of 'baby' or 'unborn child' when discussing early stages of gestation. 'Embryo is an accurate scientific term to refer to a specific point in the human development process, but it is important to not leave out that this is a stage of human development,' Taylor said. 'Using material from abortion advocates may provide a tainted view of human life before birth, and that is unfair to young learning minds. Embryos, fetuses, babies, adolescents and adults are all human, and that fact should not be hidden — that every life, no matter how small, contains humanity and dignity from the very start.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa Republicans Pass Bill To Remove Transgender Civil Rights Protections
Iowa's Republican-controlled state legislature passed a bill on Thursday that would remove gender identity as a protected class in the state's civil rights code. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds is expected as soon as Thursday evening to sign the bill into law, which would roll back nearly two decades of civil rights protections for trans Iowans. Iowa Democrats warned that the bill would open the door for employers and educators to discriminate against trans people in the state. 'This is a sad day for Iowa,' state Sen. Zach Wahls said during the Senate debate. '[This bill] will tell employers you have a green light to fire somebody because of who they are…and that's just wrong.' The votes in both chambers were met with outrage from hundreds of protestors who packed the Iowa Capitol rotunda, waving pride flags and sending messages of support to transgender Iowans. If Reynolds signs the bill, Iowa would be the first state to remove nondiscrimination protections based on gender identity. In contrast, 22 other states explicitly bar discrimination based on both sexual orientation and gender identity. A spokesperson for Reynolds' office did not immediately respond to questions after the vote on whether she would sign the bill. But the Republican governor has signed anti-trans legislation in the past, including a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors and another barring transgender girls from participating in school sports. The state Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that sexual orientation and gender identity are protected classes, which amended the state's civil rights law for the first time since 1965 and helped pave the way for broader workplace protections for trans Iowans. In 2019, Jesse Vroegh, a nurse with the Iowa Department of Corrections, won a lawsuit after he was denied the use of men's restrooms and insurance coverage because he is transgender. That same year, EerieAnna Good and Carol Beal, two transgender women, also won a suit against Iowa's Department of Human Services for denying them Medicaid coverage for their gender-affirming surgeries. In both instances, the courts found that denials of equal coverage violated gender identity protections in the state's Civil Rights Act. Now, the Iowa bill throws the future of these protections into jeopardy. The bill, SF 418, defines sex based on a person's anatomy at birth and mirrors the language of President Donald Trump's executive order declaring that there are 'only two sexes, male and female' as well as other state-level legislation attempting to redefine sex in a way that erases legal recognition of transgender people. Since Trump signed his executive order in the first hours of his presidency, incarcerated transgender women housed in women's prison facilities have been moved to men's facilities and numeroustransgender people have been denied the ability to change the sex marker on their passports and other federal documents. Advocates for LGBTQ rights, equity in schools and religious freedom in Iowa denounced the bill's passage, arguing that an attack on any protected class threatens the broader safety of all Iowans. 'By adding 'separate but equal' doctrine into Iowa code, our lawmakers have taken our state back to the 1890s,' Becky Tayler, the executive director of Iowa Safe Schools, said in a statement. 'This is a shameful day in the history of our state.'
