Pushing Too Much
You’re to be excused if you’ve forgotten that there was other news out there this week, given the domination of coverage by the leak of a proposed Supreme Court ruling and all.
One of the stories is that the Iowa legislature has still not adjourned. The House and Senate are reportedly 70 million dollars apart in budget talks, but the major hold up is a bill to allow state money given to public schools to move to private schools if a student moves to study there.
But since they have not adjourned, there’s always the possibility of something else sneaking in…sure, we’ve gone through two funnel deadlines, but there’s always a way to do something a majority wants to do.
Case in point…legislation regarding abortion.
The General Assembly has been down this road before, passing laws to grant additional rights to the unborn. One of those is currently pending review at the Iowa Supreme Court.It’s that very Iowa Supreme Court that blocked a bill a few years ago, interpreting in essence a right to privacy–and therefore medical care, and therefore abortion–within the Iowa Constitution. That essentially means any piece of legislation on the topic is a waste of time, regardless of what the U.S. Supreme Court may do.
The Iowa court could overrule itself, which is not likely…or Iowans could approve a Constitutional amendment, which is in the works, but a few years away at best.
Some states have anti-abortion laws on the books, ready to take effect if Roe v. Wade is struck down. Iowa is not one of them, and Gov. Reynolds this week said she did not think the Iowa legislature would try such a measure this year.
That’s probably a good idea, given the fluidity of the situation nationally and the fact that Iowa is already blocked by our state court’s ruling. No sense pushing a futile matter too far, especially when issues that can be addressed–like school funding and the budget–are still on the table.
