Bills restricting abortion pills, ending vaccine requirements advance in Iowa
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Iowa's first legislative funnel deadline passed last week, narrowing the field of bills that can become law this session.
Why it matters: Several measures have direct implications for Des Moines residents, including vaccine requirements and access to public libraries and abortion pills.
📚 Banning school-library partnerships: This bill would prohibit Iowa public and charter schools from entering into agreements with public libraries that provide students with access to books and materials.
- It would also ban bookmobiles from hosting events on school property.
Zoom in: The legislation comes after Des Moines Public Schools and the Des Moines Public Library entered into an agreement allowing older students to check out library materials using their student IDs.
- Iowa GOP lawmakers in favor of the bill argue that these partnerships circumvented a 2023 law banning books with sex acts from school libraries.
💉 Ending school vaccine requirements: Students would be able to attend school without being vaccinated against diseases like polio, measles and meningitis, IPR reports.
🚨 "Tough on crime" package: Three bills advanced targeting criminal offenders. The centerpiece (House Study Bill 666) would impose a mandatory 20-year minimum sentence without parole on repeat offenders.
💊 Abortion pills: House GOP lawmakers want to restrict mail-order abortion pills and require that they be distributed at health care facilities.
- Medical providers would have to tell patients they can reverse their abortion, which is disputed by several major medical organizations.
⚥ Affirmative action rollback: This bill would eliminate affirmative action references in state law and at state agencies.
- It would also strip bias and de-escalation training mandates for law enforcement, which were set in 2020.
What's next: For the most part, these bills must go through their full House or Senate chamber, and a committee in the opposite chamber by the end of the second funnel week on March 20.
Yes, but: Even if legislation didn't pass through the first funnel week, lawmakers can still tack it on as an amendment to other bills.