A Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa and Planned Parenthood North Central States event Feb. 24, 2025. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
An Iowa House subcommittee advanced a bill Tuesday that would restrict access to abortion medication by mail, require physicians to inform patients about the potential to reverse a medication abortion and collect written consent of the patient seeking an abortion.
House Study Bill 186 references “recent developing research” that indicates medication-induced abortions are not always effective in ending a pregnancy and that options exist to reverse the effects of the medication.
Opponents of the bill said the research is “unscientific” and its dissemination at clinics would amount to “state-mandated misinformation.”
The bill would also require in-person administration of the abortion medication mifepristone, which would impact Iowans’ abilities to get the medication through the mail.
Medication abortions rely on the administration of two medications, mifepristone followed by misoprostol. An effort to reverse of the induced abortion would flood the system with progesterone before the individual takes misoprostol. The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists hold this practice has a 65%-70% success rate at continuing the pregnancy.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does not support the procedure and said the research does not “meet clinical standards.”
The bill would require facilities that perform medication abortions to post signs with information about abortion reversal.
Proponents of the bill, including representatives from the Iowa Right to Life Committee, said the bill gives women the information they “deserve” around the potential physical and psychological effects of medication abortions.
Kristi Judkins, Iowa Right to Life executive director, said women could hemorrhage, experience an infection, an ongoing pregnancy and psychological trauma from undergoing the induced abortion at home by themselves.
“I support providing her with what is necessary to make an informed decision,” Judkins said in the subcommittee hearing. “My hope is that this bill would treat her as she deserves to be treated about one of the most important decisions of her life.”
Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, the only subcommittee member who opposed the bill, cited a handful of studies that showed medication abortions are “safe and effective.”
“I think these scare tactics and the fear mongering will only hurt patients,” Matson said. “The language in this bill is anything but grounded and truthful.”
Under the bill, pregnant individuals would have to provide written certification that they had received information either in person or over the phone about risks associated with medication abortions and that it “may be possible” to reverse the intended effects of the medication abortion.
Madeleine McCormick, an Iowan who shared her personal story of receiving an abortion while in her senior year of college, said despite the rhetoric from proponents of the bill, she has not been “shadowed in lifelong misery” because of her decision.
McCormick said she felt very well informed during the process and questioned if “any of the women testifying here today have sat in an abortion clinic with a medical professional.”
“I promise that women are informed by medical professionals about all of the risks associated, in the exam room — often even weighing down the burden of that decision as they sit there with a medical professional,” McCormick said.
Proponents of the bill, including Maggie DeWitte with Pulse Life Advocates, said the bill is a response to the thousands of women who have “successfully reversed the abortion pill.”
DeWitte said the bill is a “step in the right direction” to protect women and “give babies a second chance at life.”
Several faith-based groups advocated against the bill, including Wendy Abrahamson on behalf of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, who said she was “especially concerned” the bill invades a patient’s privacy by making her submit the consent form.
The bill would also stipulate that the discharge paperwork sent home with patients by the medical professionals include language that “it may be possible to avoid, cease, or even to reverse the intended effects of a medication abortion that utilizes an abortion-inducing drug” and to immediately consult a health care professional.
Mazie Stilwell with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa said the bill is an attempt from lawmakers to reduce overall access to abortion.
“These laws have the perverse effect of restricting access to health care, and can ultimately jeopardize the health of pregnant Iowans by subjecting them to misinformation,” Stilwell said. “State mandated misinformation is still misinformation.”
Dane Schumann, on behalf of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, said the bill presents a “catch 22” for physicians who would have to share the information stipulated in the bill to remain in compliance with the medical board, but would also be subjected to potential malpractice lawsuits for sharing the disputed medical information under the informed consent doctrine.
Rep. Devon Wood, R-New Market, said the bill acknowledges the research on the subject is ongoing, but she said it would let patients know about something that “could be an option.”
The bill would also prohibit the distribution of mifepristone to individuals in Iowa anywhere other than a health care setting. That section would restrict Iowans’ ability to receive abortion medication in the mail, which is currently how nearly one-third of Americans receive these medications, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
This was a plus for Tom Chapman with the Iowa Catholic Conference, who testified in favor of the bill, and said abortion pills are “available easily and cheaply online.” Chapman said “people deserve” to get the advice outlined in the bill, in person when they make a decision to get an abortion.
Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta, chaired the subcommittee and said she would save her comments for the full committee in the interest of time. Lundgren was a vocal supporter or Iowa’s so-called fetal heartbeat bill, which went into effect last summer. The law bans most abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected, as early as six weeks of pregnancy.
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