DAVENPORT, Iowa — Election Day is just about a month away, and you're probably seeing a lot of political ads on TV. Ads for Christina Bohannan are everywhere, from YouTube to the News 8 airwaves.
One of those ads claims that "Iowa now has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country because of Mariannette Miller-Meeks." Another claims she would ban all abortions, nationwide, with no exceptions.
THE QUESTION
Did Representative Miller-Meeks influence Iowa's abortion law? And what's her stance on abortion exceptions?
THE SOURCES
- Iowa Legislature BillBook
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- VoteSmart.org
- Congress.gov
- Miller-Meeks for Congress
THE ANSWER
Miller-Meeks was not in the Iowa Legislature when the abortion law was created. Her voting record also reflects support for exceptions for rape and incest.
WHAT WE FOUND
Let's start by looking at the Iowa law. It bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, around six weeks. It has exceptions for rape and incest, but only if reported within a time window. Victims have 45 days to report rape to authorities or a healthcare provider. They have 140 days to report incest.
It's based on a 2018 law that was permanently blocked by a district court, even after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
In 2023, Kim Reynolds called a special session to pass a nearly identical law. After another injunction was overturned, the law went into effect July 29, 2024.
Miller-Meeks was director of the Iowa Department of Public Health from 2010 to 2013, and in the Iowa Senate from 2019 to 2020. That means she wasn't able to vote on either law.
Looking at her voting record in the Iowa Senate and U.S. Congress, Miller-Meeks has consistently voted against abortion access. In 2020, Miller-Meeks voted to remove the right to abortion from the Iowa Constitution. Two years later in Congress, she voted no to a bill that would have prevented federal abortion restrictions.
She's also sponsored and co-sponsored bills that haven't gone to vote, like one preventing federal funding of abortions or requiring the VA to report the abortions it performs.
Some bills outline exceptions for rape and incest, like the federal funding bill. Others don't, like the amendment to the Iowa Constitution.
In 2021, she co-sponsored a Congressional act that would legally make life beginning at conception. The bill does not mention abortion, and did not make it to the House floor to vote. But she did not co-sponsor an identical bill introduced in 2023.
A statement from her campaign spokesperson reads in part, "The congresswoman has been clear that she is pro-life with the exceptions of rape, incest, and life of the mother."