THE SHORT VERSION: Republicans want to make abortion illegal, Democrats want to make it unnecessary.

THE LONG VERSION: Criminalizing abortion tells women their bodies are not their own by codifying the radical idea that government is best suited to make decisions about their bodies, lives and healthcare.

THE QUESTION: Isn’t the real, core issue unwanted pregnancies? Wouldn’t it be more productive to focus our energies on preventing them?

Do Republicans really think that criminalizing abortions will make them go away? It’s not that simple. The ramifications of outlawing abortion go far beyond criminalizing one procedure. Anti-abortion laws do not improve women and children’s lives or their safety, nor are they meant to support life. This article examines the complicating factors and negative effects of anti-abortion laws on interactions between women, medical professionals, and the legal system.

Pregnancy is not just morning sickness and an expanding waistline.  It changes almost every aspect of  a woman’s life in a way that no man will ever experience. Her life permanently shifts focus as she adjusts to physical changes that affect almost every key bodily process, and alters the trajectory of her life as new responsibilities claim priority on her future. By criminalizing abortion, the state will allow total strangers to intrude in a woman’s personal life and sit in judgement on her lifestyle, how she makes medical decisions, and the day to day details of her life, such as food preferences, personal habits, and physical activities.

Because the U.S. Supreme Court is now stacked with anti-abortion ideologs, reversing Roe v. Wade is a very real possibility.  Should this happen, Iowa’s proposed constitutional amendment, House Joint Resolution 5 will insure anti-abortion laws can no longer be declared unconstitutional.  Our government will have free reign to interfere with women’s reproduction and all Iowa women will be the losers – including women who are single-issue anti-abortion voters, and their daughters and granddaughters.