Politics
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How Iowa’s ‘religious freedom’ law could be used to discriminate
Legalized discrimination on religious grounds could be a major consequence of Iowa’s new “religious freedom” bill when Gov. Kim Reynolds signs it into law. During the Iowa Senate debate on this legislation, Sen. Janice Weiner (D-Iowa City), one of Iowa’s three Jewish legislators, said this legislation would be a “blank check for discrimination.” She is…
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‘Fighting every day’: Planned Parenthood hosts rally at Iowa Capitol
Danika Jacobsen, a senior at Valley High School in West Des Moines, has not learned much about reproductive health or anatomy in school science classes. Instead, Jacobsen said, she’s mostly taught herself. “Apparently, anything other than ‘vagina’ is taboo,’” she said Thursday at an Iowa Capitol rally hosted by Planned Parenthood. “Society has fabricated these…
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House GOP pushes through bill aimed at undermining AEA services
Rep. Chuck Isenhart (D-Dubuque) can already see the writing on the wall for Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs), after Thursday’s Iowa House vote to move forward in implementing large-scale changes to the agencies. During the House debate on its amended AEA bill, Isenhart laid out exactly how he thinks Republicans will use this bill to…
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Iowa House passes bill to arm teachers, staff in school
Rep. Molly Buck (D-Ankeny), who is also a teacher, summed up her thoughts on Iowa House Republicans’ bill to arm school staff as a way to deter school shootings. “When I think about how my classroom is arranged, if I am carrying a gun and there’s a threat at the door, the thing that stands…
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‘Gut punch after gut punch’: IVF patients speak out after Alabama ruling
IVF patients speak out after Alabama ruling regarding IVF embryos. Here’s what you need to know about the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling.
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Op-ed: Trump’s journey from hosting The Apprentice to being the biggest loser
Leading up to the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump honed a carefully crafted image of himself as a successful businessman and a winner. But in reality, Trump has a long record of failure, according to Chris Edelson, a professor and author of two books on US presidential power.
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A handful of Iowa House Republicans trying to tie birth control to abortion
Some Iowa House Republicans are attempting to bog down a bipartisan bill to legalize over-the-counter birth control by adding amendments that compare birth control to abortion, limiting how long a person can receive birth control under the bill, and adding penalties for pimps. All the House Members who introduced the various amendments are on record…
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Not just abortion: IVF ruling next phase in the right’s war on reproductive freedom
The Alabama Supreme Court directly cited the Dobbs decision—in which the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade—in its ruling that effectively bans IVF in the state. But amid furious public backlash, Donald Trump and Republicans have raced to distance themselves from the ruling they made possible.
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1,300 Iowa moms, 400 babies could lose health coverage under postpartum Medicaid bill
Thousands of Iowa women and hundreds of babies could lose Medicaid coverage under a bill that passed through the Iowa Senate. On Monday, the Iowa Legislative Services Agency released a fiscal note for SF 2251, a bill that would expand postpartum Medicaid coverage but limit eligibility for pregnant people. The agency notes that the Iowa…
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Widow of Iowa correctional officer killed on the job speaks in support of unions
Sara McFarland wants to make sure her husband’s on-the-job death—during the inmate escape attempt at Anamosa State Penitentiary in 2021— wasn’t in vain. Her husband, Robert McFarland, was a correctional officer at Anamosa. He and nurse Lorena Schulte were murdered on March 21, 2021, by two inmates trying to escape from the medium-security facility. “Robert…
