Nikoel Hytrek is Iowa Starting Line’s longest-serving reporter. She covers LGBTQ issues, abortion rights and all topics of interest to Iowans. Her biggest goal is to help connect the dots between policy and people’s real lives. If you have story ideas or tips, send them over to nikoel@new.iowastartingline.com.
Nikoel Hytrek
Latest from Nikoel Hytrek
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Bill promoting pregnancy misinformation in school advances in Iowa Senate
Dr. Emily Boevers, a licensed OB-GYN in Waverly, said if Iowa Republicans want to require anti-abortion curriculum for children as young as 6 up until they graduate high school, it should at least be factual. “As a scientist and a physician, I just have to say that it’s very important that we use accurate terminology…
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Iowa Senate bill would expand postpartum coverage, but limit participants
A bill that would increase postpartum Medicaid coverage for a full year, but restrict the number of people eligible for the program continues to work its way through the Iowa Senate. The limit is currently at 60 days and Iowa is one of only three states that hasn’t expanded coverage. The others are Idaho and…
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Iowa Senate Dem bill would guarantee access to birth control
Thousands of Iowans have told Iowa senators that protecting reproductive rights is their biggest issue. “I see a great deal of concern when I’m out door knocking,” said Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott (D-West Des Moines). “One fellow, he’s a registered Republican and he was so upset about attacks to abortion access. He has three daughters,…
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Bill to legalize discrimination against trans Iowans goes down in flames
Cheers rang out down the hallway as a bill that would have legalized discrimination against trans and nonbinary Iowans failed to pass an Iowa House subcommittee Wednesday. HF 2082 would have removed gender identity as a protected class and added a diagnosis for gender dysphoria or gender identity to the disabilities clause of the civil…
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Iowa Dems introduce slew of bills to protect Iowan’s reproductive freedom
After years of attacks on reproductive freedom, Iowa Senate Democrats are challenging the extremism by introducing bills to honor Iowan’s wishes and protect reproductive healthcare rights. In a Tuesday press conference, Senate Democrats announced a package of bills similar to a suite of bill introduced by Iowa House Democrats in March 2023. Sen. Pam Jochum…
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GOP bill that promotes anti-abortion propaganda in Iowa schools advances
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday advanced a bill to teach anti-abortion curriculum to elementary, middle and high schoolers. This bill, HF 2031, would require the human growth and development curriculum to include a three-minute animation showing organs developing in a fetus. It also requires showing a rendering or animation like one developed by an extreme anti-abortion…
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All the anti-abortion bills introduced by Iowa Republicans this year
Despite abortion being a losing issue for Republicans across the country, Iowa Republicans in the statehouse have decided to double down on pushing anti-abortion policies. Last year, several anti-abortion bills were introduced, and a July special session led to the implementation of a near-total abortion ban. That ban is currently blocked by a temporary injunction…
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Meet the nonprofit director promoting birth control access in Iowa
Allison Smith’s outlook on birth control access completely changed when Donald Trump was elected in 2016. “I think around that time there was some really concerning rhetoric,” she said. At the time, Smith lived in Minneapolis and worked in health care administration at Whitecap Health Advisors. “There were major concerns about what [President Trump and…
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Iowan speaks out against anti-abortion centers: ‘I thought it was legitimate’
For two hours, staff at an anti-abortion center told Mica Chase—then 19 years old—they would go to Hell for having an abortion. The staff also said the abortion could kill them (abortion is incredibly safe) and that the staff would do anything to help Chase keep a pregnancy they had already decided they weren’t ready…
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Iowa lawmaker wants looser requirements for fake pregnancy resource clinics
Rep. Jon Dunwell (R-Newton) introduced a bill Wednesday to loosen requirements for the More Options for Maternal Support (MOMS) program, which would funnel $2 million from Iowa taxpayers to anti-abortion centers in the state. For two years, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has failed to find a party to manage the…
