Stories

Conservative abortion opponents are stoking concerns that the current debate over health care reform could result in a bill that, without a specific abortion exclusion, might usurp federal mandates barring the use of government funds for abortion services.

A Cedar Rapids-based anti-abortion group attempting to gain tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service has acquired the services of a nationally-recognized “pro-life” law firm.
The Thomas More Society, a self-described “not-for-profit, public interest law firm dedicated to fighting for the rights and dignity of all human life,” issued a press release this week announcing that [...]

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the GOP’s 2008 Iowa Caucuses, seems to have maintained his interest in the opinions of Iowans. Previous calls from perceived 2012 Republican presidential contender have focused on socially conservative issues, and this one may have been as well, since it asked questions about the supreme court and abortion.

Wading into a contentious debate being waged within the Republican Party of Iowa, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told a crowd of GOP activists and elected officials Thursday night that the only way back into the majority is to resist demands for ideological purity.

Much of the discussion in the wake of Tiller’s slaying has been about criminal prosecution of those who murder abortion doctors. But there’s a growing concern about the anti-abortion extremists — some call them domestic terrorists — who enable and encourage such murders by labeling abortion providers “mass murderers”, Nazis and worse, and implying that violent attacks against them are not only justified, but honorable.

Following up on an Iowa Independent interview with Dave Leach, the Des Moines resident with ties to the man charged with killing Kansas abortion doctor George Tiller, The Des Moines Register reports that Leach could never attack an abortion provider because he doesn’t know enough about guns:
“You have to have some ability to pull off [...]

The suspect in the fatal shooting of late-term abortion doctor George Tiller in Kansas was an occasional contributor to a Des Moines-based newsletter that believes that killing abortion providers is justifiable homicide.

The slaying Sunday of Kansas abortion doctor George Tiller has roused a broad spectrum of response from the anti-abortion community.
Dubuque County Right to Life Executive Director Steven Brody condemned the murder and offered his prayers to Tiller’s family, but seemed more worried that the shooting will spawn a negative reaction to anti-abortion groups.
“Our prayer is [...]

“It’s really important for people to understand that reproductive health for women is mainstream and no different than any other type of health care,” said Christie Vilsack, the former first lady of Iowa. “In many cases — and I think this is especially true in small towns — there is a perception that these services are taboo or something controversial when they aren’t at all.”

Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley plans to oppose Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services, citing her ties to a doctor who performs late-term abortions.
“I expressed my concern last week about her connection to the abortion doctor,” he said. “Not so much just the connection, but the lack of [...]