Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, left, and Democratic challenger Sarah Corkery listen to a question posed to them during the 2nd Congressional District Iowa Press Debates at Iowa PBS in Johnston on Oct. 14, 2024. (Pool photo by Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson and Democratic challenger Sarah Corkery clashed on how government should handle maternal health care issues like abortion, in-vitro fertilization and birth control during a debate Monday on “Iowa Press.”
Hinson, the Republican incumbent, and Corkery are running for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District seat in northeast Iowa.
Hinson defended her decision to cosponsor the 2021 “Life at Conception” Act, legislation that would define a human life as beginning at the moment of fertilization, and guarantee a “right to life” for every human being.
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While the controversial proposal does not specifically include language regarding abortions or IVF that could be impacted, many critics say that the measure could restrict these medical procedures without exceptions for cases involving rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.
The incumbent Republican said that while she cosponsored the bill, that “no piece of legislation would get my support without those exceptions.”
“I think the most important thing here is about working with my colleagues to support a culture of life in Washington, D.C.,” Hinson said. “Look, I understand not everybody’s there. We need to have some protections in this country, because life is valuable. I certainly don’t want to support a culture of death like my opponent — that I believe is extreme. And you heard her say it right here, she does not believe in having a conversation about weeks.”
Hinson called on her opponent to clarify her position on the gestational period at which abortion procedures should be illegal. Corkery, who began the debate by stating that access to abortion care is her number one issue heading into the election, said the decision to terminate a pregnancy should be a conversation “between a person and a doctor,” with no defined cutoff point for when abortions become illegal.
Corkery also spoke about her experience with pregnancy complications when her son almost died at 38 weeks of gestation. She said she does not believe focusing on the “metric” of at what week in a pregnancy abortions should become illegal is productive, as it does not reflect the reasons why many women have to get late-term abortions.
“If you say a number of weeks, the next question should be, ‘Is the mother’s life at risk?’” Corkery said. “Is there a fetal anomaly that makes this incompatible with life? These are scary, terrible things, and so for my opponent to basically say people are having abortions up until birth and after — it’s hurtful to those of us that have almost lost our lives in childbirth.”
Corkery also claimed that Hinson does not support IVF or address other maternal health care concerns, pointing to the Republican’s support for the “Life at Conception” Act as well as efforts on supporting what she said were less effective forms of birth control as over-the-counter options.
Hinson said she supported Iowa’s so-called “fetal heartbeat” law that would ban most abortions after six weeks of gestation with exceptions, but added she was focused on reducing Iowa’s maternal health care deserts, preventing miscarriages and stillbirths as a federal lawmaker.
“Really, this is about making sure that no matter what your zip code is, that you can have that access to care,” Hinson said. “… I’ve worked with Iowans to make sure we are protecting life, and making sure that women have resources and the education they need to know when they need to go see a doctor.”
Corkery is not the only candidate emphasizing abortion access ahead of the Nov. 5 election — it is predicted to be a pivotal issue for Democrats across the ballot. However, while other races, like those in Iowa’s 1st and 3rd congressional races are expected to be competitive, recent polls show that Corkery is facing steeper odds.
The most recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, published in September, found 52% of likely voters in the 2nd District said they prefer a Republican congressional candidate while 44% said they prefer a Democrat. The poll also found 1% who said they would support another candidate and 4% who said they were not sure.
Independent candidate Jody Madlom Puffett, who did not participate in Monday’s debate, is also on the ballot for Iowa’s 2nd District seat. Puffett says on her campaign website she is running for the seat despite being a lifelong Republican because of Hinson’s voting record on issues like supporting the foreign aid package to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan in April.
Hinson emphasizes immigration issues
As Democrats focus on abortion, Republicans say immigration and inflation — and the Biden administration’s handling of these issues — should be the top concern for voters as they weigh candidates in the 2024 election. Hinson referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as a “border czar,” stating that 10 million undocumented immigrants have crossed the U.S. border during the current administration’s tenure.
Hinson said Iowa communities are being impacted by border crossings.
“I just was at a small school district, you know, they’ve had several dozen new students come in that don’t speak the language,” Hinson said. “We have — a recent stop at a health care clinic that I’ve had — they’ve had to hire three new people just to be able to translate people coming into our community, even here in Iowa.”
While Hinson did not point to any instances of undocumented immigrants committing crimes in Iowa in recent years, she stated that the federal government’s top priority on border security needs to be to “deport the dangerous illegals in this country” and secure the U.S.-Mexico border by working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before focusing on reforming the immigration and visa systems.
Corkery argued that Hinson should have supported the bipartisan immigration package, which failed to move to the U.S. House, if she wanted to take federal action on the issue of immigration and border security. She also said Iowa is economically reliant on immigrants in sectors like agriculture and meatpacking.
Corkery criticized her opponent for supporting what she said were not “pro-life” border policy positions, pointing to Hinson’s support for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott installing roughly 30 miles of razor wire along the banks of the Rio Grande to deter illegal border crossings. She also said that she supported “all legal immigration,” that requires more investment in ICE and other government agencies dealing with immigration .
“What we need to do is better give people more funding at the border so that they can get people through quicker,” Corkery said. “We need more resources, and we also need to see what has not worked. The wall has not worked. It has not fixed anything. And it was on our dime, Mexico did not pay for it. So we need to stop fear-mongering, we need to start getting down brass tacks on how we get things done.”
Hinson declined to speak to reporters after the debate. Corkery said her goal for the event was to hold Hinson “accountable” for her positions on topics like abortion, and that she succeeded.
“What I found, what northeast Iowans want? Truth,” Corkery said. “That’s it. When I go around talking to all of them, I just say, ‘I’m going to tell you the truth,’ and they’re relieved and that’s what people want. And Ashley has not done a good job on telling the truth.”
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