Iowa House OKs bill to criminalize death of an “unborn person” despite IVF concerns

By HANNAH FINGERHUT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republicans in Iowa’s House of Representatives have approved a bill that would criminalize the death of an “unborn person” — over Democrats’ concerns about how it might impact in vitro fertilization. The legislation passed by the House on Thursday and awaiting Senate action would outline penalties for causing death or serious injury to an unborn person. Democrats expressed concerns over the bill, citing the majority ruling of Alabama’s Supreme Court treating an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under that state’s wrongful death law. The Iowa legislation would require Senate passage and Gov. Kim Reynolds’ signature before before becoming law.