Iowa
Election 2024: How Iowa’s abortion law could affect state legislature races
DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Television Iowa Capitol Bureau) – With Iowa’s abortion law now in effect, it could become an issue that drives voter turnout in November.
The law bans abortion once cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy. Doctors say that’s before most patients know they’re pregnant. The law does have limited exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormality, and when the life of the mother is in danger.
Abortion itself won’t be on the ballot in November because Iowa doesn’t allow citizen-led ballot initiatives. Any changes would have to come from the legislature.
Democrats are already making this election about abortion.
At the Iowa Democratic Party’s Liberty & Justice Celebration Saturday, House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said, “Iowans are fed up. They’re furious about this abortion ban, and we’re going to make ‘em pay. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Konfrst says they’re starting an awareness campaign to tell voters that the law is in effect and which Republicans voted for it. “We’ve had times when we’ve been saved by the courts before. That didn’t happen this time. Iowans need to know and Iowans need to know if they feel helpless, if they feel like they want to do something about this, their best opportunity to do so is at the ballot box in 99 days,” Konfrst said.
Iowa State University Political Science Professor Dave Peterson says framing elections around abortion rights generally helps Democrats. “The record post-Dobbs has been that when an election gets framed to be about abortion – either abortion is specifically on the ballot or that’s what the candidates have chosen to focus on and what voters are thinking about. That’s good for Democrats,” Peterson said.
Though, Peterson says Iowa Democrats will have a harder time since abortion itself isn’t on the ballot.
In a social media post Monday, presumptive Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris blamed Iowa’s law on former President Donald Trump. “What we need to do is vote ‘cause I’m going to tell you something, when I’m President of the United States, I will sign in to law the protections for reproductive freedom,” Harris said.
Peterson says Harris making abortion a central part of her campaign will keep the issue top of mind for voters, which can trickle down to state legislature races. ”So by Harris campaigning on abortion, again, when people are going in to the voting booth, that’s likely to be, or more likely to be one of the preeminent issues they’re thinking about. Again, we are several, or 100 days or so out, and so lots of things can change,” Peterson said.
Peterson says Republicans don’t perform as well when elections are framed around abortion and likely won’t talk about it much. He says their best strategy is to talk about immigration, inflation or “basically anything else.”
We reached out to Republican lawmakers for interviews to see how they’re planning to talk about abortion on their campaigns.
In a statement, Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans will build on work they’ve done to expand access to affordable childcare, expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage, and improving the foster care and adoption system.
“The Legislature is elected by the people, and for too long, the courts have stood in the way of Iowans having their voices heard on this matter. We are a pro-life and pro-family state. In Iowa, we respect both the life of the unborn child and the life of the mother. While the out-of-touch Iowa Democrats fight for abortion up until the day of birth, we will continue to fight for common sense policies that promote and protect life. We will continue to promote strong families in all that we do in the Iowa House. We must build on the work we’ve already done to expand access to affordable child care, extend postpartum coverage on Medicaid, and improve our foster care and adoption systems,” Grassley said.
Iowa Senate President Amy Sinclair said many Iowans have waited for this day to come.
“The Iowa Senate, House of Representatives, and Governor Reynolds have consistently supported the protection of life at the sound of a heartbeat. This commonsense law recognizes important exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Today, the support for protection of life becomes a reality. Lives will be saved starting today. Many Iowans have voted, volunteered, and prayed to see this day finally happen,” Sinclair said.
A constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights could be placed on the ballot at some point in the future. A constitutional amendment would have to pass two General Assemblies first. This is unlikely to happen in the near future given the Republican supermajorities in both chambers.
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Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Television-owned stations in Iowa. Email him at conner.hendricks@gray.tv; and follow him on Facebook at Conner Hendricks TV or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.
Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — — Owen Freeman matched his career-best with 22 points and Iowa cruised to a 104-57 win over New Orleans on Sunday.
The Hawkeyes rebounded from their first home-court loss, falling 89-80 to No. 3 Iowa State on Thursday in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.
Brock Harding opened the game with a 3-pointer, but the Privateers answered with back-to-back layups from MJ Thomas and James White to take their only lead of the game, 4-3. Freeman answered with a layup and Payton Sandfort and Drew Thelwell each hit from deep to put Iowa in front for good and a 10-0 run made it 29-11 midway through the half.
Iowa (8-3) shot 62.7% from the field for the game (42 of 67), including 14 of 29 from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes amassed 28 assists on 42 made baskets. Sandfort hit 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and finished with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Josh Dix and Brock Harding each added 13 points, with Harding collecting six assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Pryce Sandfort added 10 points off the bench.
New Orleans, playing its first game in more than a week, was 25 of 67 from the field (37.3%) and was just 4 of 24 from long range. White paced the Privateers (2-7) with 24 points, six rebounds and two assists. Thomas added 14 points.
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Iowa wrestling coach Clarissa Chun breaks down pair of dual wins
Iowa wrestling’s Clarissa Chun holds press conference after pair of dual wins over William Jewell and Cornell College
Iowa women’s wrestling took a good portion of its squad to the North Central Open on Sunday, securing three individual titles from Nanea Estrella, Macey Kilty and Kylie Welker.
Bringing 13 wrestlers to the top division of the tournament, with Danni Swihart competing in the B-Division, 11 Hawkeyes finished on the podium in the top division. Even without several starters, the Hawkeyes took second behind only North Central’s mostly full squad.
Iowa’s stars who made the trip to Naperville, Illinois shined, as Estrella, Kilty and Welker combined to go 14-0. They outscored their opponents 131-1 combined.
Alivia White was a surprise, racing to take second at 203 pounds. She defeated teammate Katja Osteen by fall on her way to the finals. Even without Jaycee Foeller, the Hawkeyes had White, Osteen and Samantha Calkins all place at the tournament at 203 pounds.
Accounting for only the results from the A-Division, which housed top wrestlers from each team, North Central had 166.5 team points to Iowa’s 136.5.
It’s hard to compare Iowa and North Central, given the Hawkeyes and CArdinals had limited lineups. The Hawkeyes were without Sterling Dias, Brianna and Emilie Gonzalez, Skye Realin, Reese Larramendy, Kennedy Blades and Foeller to name a few. North Central did not have former Hawkeye Bella Mir or 203-pound No. 2 Traeh Haynes for example as well.
Regardless, having two champions and five finalists suggests the Cardinals will be a challenger once again come the postseason to the Hawkeyes.
Here are the individual results for each wrestler for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa women’s wrestling results from North Central Open
- Rianne Murphy – 2nd at 103 pounds (3-1)
- Val Solorio – 3rd at 110 pounds (5-1)
- Cali Leng – 6th at 124 pounds (3-3)
- Ava Rose – DNP at 124 pounds (1-2)
- Allie Baudhuin – DNP at 131 pounds (1-2)
- Emmily Patneaud – 6th at 131 pounds (2-3)
- Nanea Estrella – 1st at 138 pounds (4-0)
- Cadence Diduch – 3rd at 138 pounds (5-1)
- Danni Swihart (B-Division) – 5th at 138 pounds (3-2)
- Macey Kilty – 1st at 145 pounds (4-0)
- Kylie Welker – 1st at 180 pounds (6-0)
- Samantha Calkins – 4th at 207 pounds (4-2)
- Alivia White – 2nd at 207 pounds (3-1)
- Katja Osteen – 5th at 207 pounds (3-2, 3-1 vs. non-Hawkeyes)
Match-by-match results can be found on trackwrestling.com
This story was updated to add new information.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
Iowa State football: Cyclones seniors on turning focus to bowl season
Iowa State football seniors Myles Purchase, JR Singleton and Jaylin Noel are looking forward to trying to end things on a good note in bowl season.
Iowa State football brought in some talent on Saturday.
The Cyclones landed two wide receivers from the NCAA transfer portal in Chase Sowell (East Carolina) and Xavier Townsend (UCF).
They both have two years of eligibility remaining.
Here’s some information on the two newcomers:
Chase Sowell stats
- 2024 (9 games): 34 catches, 678 yards, 3 TDs
- 2023 (11 games): 47 catches, 622 yards, 1 TD
- 2022 (1 game): 2 catches, 23 yards
The 6-4, 195-pound wideout enjoyed his best career season in 2024 despite missing three games due to injury, according to 247Sports.
Most impressively, he increased his average yards per reception by 6.7 to 19.9, indicating he can be a big-play threat for the Cyclones.
His best stretch in 2024 came in the middle of the season in back-to-back games against Temple and Army, in which Sowell combined for 11 catches and 255 yards with two scores.
Xavier Townsend stats
- 2024 (4 games): 10 catches, 69 yards, 1 TD
- 2023 (10 games): 31 catches, 316 yards, 3 TDs
- 2022 (8 games): 16 catches, 102 yards
The 5-11, 185-pound wideout sat out the final eight games of 2024 in order to retain his eligibility, according to ESPN.
Across the first four games, Townsend’s best performance was the season opener with four catches for 50 yards against Colorado.
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