Iowa Heartbeat Bill: The Exceptions Speak for Themselves

Sarah St. Onge with Rebecca Kiessling and Darlene Pawlik - Save the 1

By Sarah St. Onge - Posted at Save the 1:

Last month Ben Shapiro shared a video clip showing a mother speaking passionately about the value of her son’s life. Having conceived her son during a violent sexual assault, Jennifer Christie has bravely stood up to defend his right to life a number of times at rallies and before a variety of state legislatures.

Her words were well received by most pro-life believers. But her passion was evidently not enough to persuade Iowa lawmakers, and the Iowa Heartbeat Bill was passed with exceptions for rape and serious fetal anomaly.

If we can ignore the glaring discrimination, the passage of Iowa’s heartbeat bill was a watershed moment in pro-life advocacy. While the bill still hasn’t been signed into law, it sent a strong message out to the rest of the country: we can pass restrictive pro-life legislation in a state which is not necessarily conservative. It would seem to be a shining achievement for the pro-life movement.

But with the exceptions, the bill sent another message: A message of exclusion for those conceived in rape or who have been diagnosed with a serious birth defect, and there have been some who’ve spoken out against that message, including Ms. Christie herself.

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