Bohannan derides 'reckless' legislators over abortion, IVF proposals at reproductive health roundtable
Congressional candidate Christina Bohannan believes legislation aimed at changing abortion rights and in-vitro fertilization is reckless.
The democratic candidate for Iowa's 1st Congressional District held a reproductive health roundtable Tuesday at the Iowa City Public Library, criticizing lawmakers who are limiting abortion and punishing professionals providing IVF.
“People are signing on to these bills that can actually make it impossible for people with fertility problems to have children and they are not even asking the medical professionals who are involved in this to (provide) input on this legislation,” Bohannan said.
Bohannan said she tried to have a second child through in-vitro fertilization. She said it was challenging “emotionally, physically and financially,” but emphasized that success is a "miracle and a blessing.”
“We really want to make sure that we're supporting reproductive freedom for everyone and we are allowing our healthcare providers to use good medical practice,” Bohannan said.
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A community inspired to share its stories
Medical professionals, current mothers, and future parents each shared their experiences during Tuesday's roundtable.
Amy Sparks, the director of the University of Iowa's In-Vitro Fertilization and Reproductive Testing Laboratories, attended the discussion. She believes infertility is a "strictly bipartisan issue."
Sparks said though women’s reproductive freedoms have progressed significantly in Iowa, she believes new legislation could hurt the decades of progress.
“(W)e don't owe (embryos) the full respect of an individual,” Sparks said. “And if we did, I think it'd be very hard to do my job and impossible if we were at risk of criminal charges. IVF is the most pro-family building service we can offer and the fertility preservation services are also quite critical.”
Sparks’ comments echoed sentiments she shared during a one-on-one conversation with Bohannan about IVF in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court’s mid-February decision that declared frozen embryos used during the IVF process as children.
Local women detail their journey to motherhood
Iowa City resident Allison Bierman shared her lengthy, ongoing struggle to have children with her husband using in-vitro fertilization. She said she had complications four times during her IVF treatments.
“It's not been an easy journey at all,” Bierman said. “And it certainly isn't made any easier by these ridiculous laws that are passed that seem like they are just like throwing spaghetti on the wall, not knowing what they're writing down and voting on and approving. It's kind of ridiculous.”
Bierman said she had an ectopic pregnancy that put her in the hospital and forced her to have an abortion. Ectopic pregnancies develop outside the uterus, typically in the fallopian tubes.
“I'm somebody who, if I could do anything at all to not have to have an abortion, I would,” Bierman said. “It's not because I don't believe in it. It's because it saved my life. If they would have just let it go on, I probably could have died.”
Mothers in the first trimester of pregnancy die at a rate of 9-14% from ruptures caused by ectopic pregnancy. The ruptures are the leading cause of maternal death in the first stage of pregnancy, according to a 2023 analysis by the National Institutes of Health.
Bohannan's push for reproductive rights
Bohannan has attacked Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks for supporting the 2021 version of the Life at Conception Act, a bill she co-sponsored.
It did not pass.
A bill under the same name introduced last year was not co-sponsored by Miller-Meeks. In 2019, while serving in the statehouse, Miller-Meeks voted yes on a bill that changed references from “terminates a human pregnancy” to “causes the death of an unborn person.”
Bohannan will square off against Miller-Meeks for Iowa's 1st Congressional District seat in November. Bohannan is the only Democratic candidate who filed to challenge the two-time incumbent.
“This is a really important issue for every person across the state,” Bohannan said about reproductive health.
Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Bohannan hosts reproductive health roundtable, talking abortion, IVF
