Abortion

Is Iowa’s New “Ban Carhart” Bill Doomed?

A new bill to block Dr. Carhart from opening a clinic in Council Bluffs may be stuck, with one Republican legislator refusing to let it onto the floor.

A bill to attempt to block Dr. Leroy Carhart from opening a later term abortion clinic in Iowa may already be dead on arrival, with one lawmaker refusing to let it onto the floor due to it not actually banning abortions after 20 weeks, like the original proposal did.

Via the Quad City Times:

Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, said the bill does nothing to ban late-term abortions. It only provides political cover for Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, a Democrat from Council Bluffs where opposition to the abortion clinic has come from the community and elected officials.

However, passage in the House, which passed a bill to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, is unlikely.

“If, in fact, all it does is formalize a procedure for doctors to come to the state of Iowa, including Dr. Carhart, to perform late-term abortions, I’m confident the House will not pass a bill that does that,” House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said.

The procedural impasse is a reminiscent of the House’s battle to pass the 20 week ban in the first place, with one branch insisting that a more strict abortion ban be passed in its place.

Should the bill end up killed due to stalemate, the state will ironically neither block Carhart nor ban abortions after 20 weeks.