Iowa
Why IVF advocates worry Iowa could become the next Alabama over ‘personhood’ legislation

IVF treatments after Roe: What does it mean for IVF treatments?
New bans on abortion have raised concerns over the future of fertility treatments like IVF. A reproductive lawyer weighs in on the implications.
Michelle Hanks, USA TODAY
Karen Mathes says she owes “her whole being” to in vitro fertilization.
Seventeen years ago, the 41-year-old Polk City resident and her husband began IVF to start a family. An eating disorder in college meant Mathes had a suppressed ovulation cycle, prompting the couple to seek out fertility treatment at Mid-Iowa Fertility in Des Moines.
After two rounds of treatment, Mathes and her husband welcomed three children: a daughter in 2009 and twin sons in 2012.
“I owe my whole being to Dr. (Brian) Cooper and Mid-Iowa Fertility. If they weren’t there, there was no way that I would have the family that I have,” Mathes, who is now a nurse at Mid-Iowa Fertility, told the Des Moines Register.
“I’m not really sure of how many other jobs where you can help create life and help people basically reach their dreams of being parents,” she said. “I don’t really know of anything else out there that could really satisfy me as much as finding the first heartbeat for somebody’s first child after they’ve been struggling for 5 or 10 years.”
But recent court rulings and legislation are raising fears that IVF treatments may be in jeopardy.
Shock waves swept through the industry, and throughout the rest of the country, recently after the Alabama State Supreme Court ruled that embryos created through IVF should be legally considered children. Hospitals and fertility clinics paused treatments in the days that followed.
Last week, Alabama state lawmakers gave final approval to legislation to protect IVF providers and patients from criminal and civil liability. The bill has yet to be signed into law by Alabama’s governor.
The Alabama ruling has no direct impact in Iowa, but it has opened the door to questions about the possible impacts to IVF care in Iowa from providers like Mathes and Cooper, the physician at Mid-Iowa Fertility.
In particular, providers and advocates worry about the potential legal ramifications of existing Iowa law defining “unborn child” and from new legislation state lawmakers are considering that furthers the effort to define fertilized embryos as “personhood.”
“We’re tampering in ground that is difficult for science to define, which makes it exceedingly more difficult for politicians to define,” Cooper said.
Existing Iowa law defines fertilized embryo as ‘unborn person’
Iowa Code Chapters 146A and 146B define “unborn child” as an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization to live birth.
That language was established in Iowa as part of the law that passed in 2017 establishing Iowa’s current 20-week abortion ban. Under that provision, the language applies only to doctors performing abortions in Iowa.
While this existing law doesn’t directly pertain to regulation of fertility care, its language has the potential to cause ramifications in Iowa similar to those that played out in Alabama, according to legal and medical experts interviewed by the Register.
Alan Ostergren, president of the Kirkland Institute and a prominent conservative attorney, said plaintiffs in a lawsuit could use that language to argue any loss of embryos is not destruction of property, but instead a wrongful death.
As in Alabama, that distinction would be up to Iowa’s courts to decide. So far, no lawsuit has set that kind of precedent, Ostergren said.
“Whether their damages would be for the destruction of their property or would have been a wrongful death claim, those plaintiffs would have to persuade the Iowa Supreme Court that the law should recognize that embryo as a child and not just an embryo,” Ostergren said. “There’s not a code section right now that would directly answer that question.”
Legislation Iowa lawmakers are considering this session, House File 2575, uses the same language as existing law. The bill, which was approved by the Iowa House on Thursday, would create stricter penalties for terminating a person’s pregnancy without their consent. That bill is awaiting a Senate vote.
Another bill, House File 2518, uses the same “unborn person” definition to allow Iowans to bring wrongful death lawsuits over “wrongful death of an unborn child,” which would include a fertilized embryo.
Republican lawmakers are trying to tamp down fears that the same thing that happened in Alabama awaits Iowa.
“These bills were not crafted with the intention of having any effect on IVF, and they don’t make any changes to IVF in Iowa,” Melissa Saitz, a spokesperson for Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, said in a statement. “The Alabama Supreme Court has no effect on Iowa law. As always, the speaker will continue to seek feedback from Iowans on any legislative changes they would like made on this topic in the future.”
More: House votes to raise penalty for killing an ‘unborn person.’ Democrats say it endangers IVF
What are the implications for IVF treatment?
To Cooper, the physician at Mid-Iowa Fertility, the personhood statute does not mean IVF treatments could not take place in Iowa.
However, he said it would pose huge ramifications for key pieces of that care, including genetic testing and disposing of leftover embryos.
“I think we would still be able to do some treatment, but it can significantly limit what we’re able to do and take some of our most useful tools away,” he said.
If fertilized embryos are defined as persons, Cooper said, it’s unclear whether providers would be allowed to discard or donate frozen embryos that patients don’t want to use.
To fertility care providers, perhaps the most concerning aspect are the implications for genetic testing, which clinics rely on to detect abnormalities and otherwise ensure patients are receiving healthy embryos that are more likely to result in a healthy birth.
In some cases, patients who aren’t struggling to get pregnant seek out IVF treatment to ensure implanted embryos don’t inherit severe genetic conditions, such as Huntington’s disease. Through this method, Cooper said IVF providers have the opportunity to “virtually eliminate” deadly conditions in children.
“Who doesn’t see the positivity in that? But if you define that personhood begins at conception and I have an embryo affected, you’re telling me I’ve got to put that back? That’s where the quagmire comes in,” Cooper said.
What do supporters, critics say about the ‘personhood’ debate?
Iowa’s effort aligns with a longtime campaign nationwide by anti-abortion advocates for governments to define “fetal personhood,” therefore recognizing a fetus as a person and grant them the rights and protections guaranteed to people.
Republican lawmakers dismissed concerns that the bill approved by the Iowa House would have ramifications similar to those playing out in Alabama, stating during last week’s debate that existing Iowa law has not had any effect.
More: Iowa’s GOP Congress members say they’re both ‘pro-life’ and pro-IVF after Alabama ruling
Still, Democrats and other advocates have raised alarms about this effort, particularly since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which opened the door for states, including Iowa, to establish strict abortion laws.
Mazie Stilwell, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Advocates for Iowa, said the proposed legislation is a “blatant attempt” to further conservative advocates’ anti-abortion agenda in the state. She argued that additional personhood language in Iowa law has the potential to create chaos within the legal system.
“The GOP has power to take away people’s control over their bodies and their lives and, unfortunately, access to IVF is no different,” Stilwell said.
Ostergren argued that the overturning of Roe v. Wade opened the door for legislative scrutiny of certain medical practices, including IVF and surrogacy.
“People have made a mistake if they think that they can just start fertilizing and then freezing embryos in a lab and run a business doing that and have no legal, ethical or moral scrutiny of what they’re doing,” Ostergren said.
Cooper pushed back on that argument, saying IVF treatment and other fertility care is one of the most regulated fields in medicine. He also said the industry has guidelines from multiple medical regulatory bodies to ensure providers are delivering the most ethical care possible.
“They really need to understand what’s already happening before you come in from the outside and try to impose something else, especially when you’re not intimately familiar with what happens in our world,” Cooper said. “You just end up restricting care and taking useful science away from patients that can really benefit from it.”
Mathes disagrees with the push to define fertilized embryos as people, saying that she views those embryos more as “a potential for life.” Without numerous medical interventions and support, many of those don’t grow beyond a bundle of cells.
Even then, she said, there isn’t a guarantee a healthy birth will result.
“It scares me,” she said, “It’s not so black and white. There’s a lot of gray area in the middle. It affects a lot of people, and they don’t understand that. Unless you work in it every day, you would never understand it.”
Reporter Stephen Gruber-Miller contributed to this report.
Michaela Ramm covers health care for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at mramm@registermedia.com, at (319) 339-7354 or on Twitter at @Michaela_Ramm

Iowa
Meet the Clog Fathers: One of Iowa’s Red Bull Soapbox Derby teams

Red Bull Soapbox Race in Des Moines
Check out the fast moving soapbox cars as they tore down East Walnut Street in Des Moines on Saturday during the Red Bull Soapbox Race.
Bryon Houlgrave, Des Moines Register
- Five friends from Pella, Iowa, entered the Red Bull Soapbox race in Des Moines.
- Their car, the Clog Cruiser, is shaped like a Dutch clog.
- The race takes place at the Iowa State Capitol Grounds on May 31.
A couple of months ago, Treyton Turnbull didn’t even know what a soapbox race was.
That was until the incoming junior at Iowa State University was sent an advertisement for the May 31 Red Bull Soapbox Race in Des Moines in a group chat with his friends.
“I saw the ad for it on Instagram and I initially sent it to the group chat as a joke,” said Ryan Sales, an incoming sophomore at University of Northern Iowa. “Everyone agreed to do it, and I remember being in my dorm room filling out the application thinking there’s no way we’ll get in.”
“When we got the email saying we made it, I was so pumped for it,” Sales said.
What began as a joke has turned into five hometown friends becoming fully immersed in soapbox racing, studying past Red Bull competitions to see what succeeded as they crafted their cart.
Their team name Clog Fathers pays homage to the classic mob drama “The Godfather” while also drawing inspiration from the team’s hometown of Pella and its deep Dutch heritage.
“Growing up, we’d always go into town for Tulip Time, so we wanted to make our cart Dutch- or tulip-themed,” Turnbull said. “We thought about doing a windmill or corn because of Iowa, but we landed on a clog because we thought it would be fun to race down a hill in a giant shoe.”
Besides Turnbull and Sales, the group includes Donovan Helle, Nicolas Stanley and Kaiden Hol. Helle attends Central College, while Stanley and Hol are students at Des Moines Area Community College.
What will the Clog Fathers’ Red Bull Soapbox car look like?
The chassis of the cart comes from a four-wheeler and the outside frame will be in the shape of a clog that was pieced together from some spare metal scrap. The name of the cart is the Clog Cruiser.
“Going into this our expectations of what we were going to achieve were low, like we thought the car would look like a wreck,” Sales said. “But we’ve done a couple of test runs so far, and it’s actually come together a lot better than we were expecting.”
Besides some members taking a welding class in high school, Turnbull said none have an engineering background or any experience making a soapbox car.
“We’re kind of just figuring it out as we go,” Stanley said.
Turnbull said the team has invested more than $400 in constructing the Clog Cruiser. He said they have secured sponsorships from local businesses in Pella to offset some of the costs.
“We’re really scrounging around because I just got through freshman year of college, barely able to eat on finals week, so I can’t afford to fund a whole car,” Sales joked.
Turnbull will drive the cart with Stanley sitting behind him to distribute weight. As far as the team’s expectations for the Clog Cruiser, they’re keeping them relatively tempered.
“Our goal is just to make it to the finish line,” Stanley said. “We’re prepared to take a tumble or two if it means making it to the end.”
How to watch the Des Moines Red Bull Soapbox Race
The Red Bull Soapbox Race series premieres on Discovery. Each episode takes place in a different city. Des Moines is among six cities for the 2025 tour, including London and Madrid. Full episodes can be viewed via Discovery’s YouTube channel.
Where is the 2025 Red Bull Soap Box Car Race in Des Moines?
The Red Bull Soapbox Car Race is at the Iowa State Capitol grounds in Des Moines, located on East Walnut Street.
The event starts at noon May 31 and is free for spectators. The top three teams will receive trophies and prizes.
Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.
Iowa
Iowa attorney general says officers were justified in fatal shooting on Interstate 80

Police officers and deputies involved in the fatal shooting of a suspect, who authorities say shot at law enforcement several times on Interstate 80 in April, were justified in using lethal force, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said.
The incident happened in the early morning on April 15, when a deputy pulled over Vonderrick Rayford for excessive speeding near Earlham, according to the May 29 report. Rayford, 51, of Milwaukee, was on the run after shooting a woman in the head and shooting at a police officer in Colorado Springs on April 13, according to the report.
Rayford had stolen the car he was driving and had a stolen handgun on him, the report said.
Once he was pulled over, Rayford, who had previously been convicted of assaulting a peace officer and dangerous use of a weapon, began shooting at Dallas County deputy Jacob Spurrell, the report said. Rayford also shot at other responding officers who responded to Spurrell’s call of “shots fired,” according to the report.
Rayford eventually put his hands up and dropped the gun. Officers asked Rayford to back away from the gun, but he ignored them.
Rayford eventually picked up the gun and raised it at officers when they were within a few feet of him, the report said.
Five officers from different agencies, including the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, Adair County Sheriff’s Office, Stuart Police Department and Adel Police Department, shot and killed Rayford, the report said. Law enforcement involved were deputies Spurrell and Eric Grimm from Dallas County; officer Shane Martinson from Stuart; deputy Tyler DeFrancisco from Adair County; and officer Joel Gummert from Adel. Officer Brandon Pickett from Adel attempted to fire but his gun malfunctioned, the report said.
Bird concluded the officers’ actions were justified.
“Rayford escalated a routine traffic stop into a deadly shooting that endangered the lives of multiple law enforcement officers and all other persons who were using the interstate that night,” Bird said in the report.
The incident shut down the interstate for hours during the morning commute.
José Mendiola is a breaking news reporter for the Register. Reach him at jmendiola@dmreg.com or follow him on X @mendiola_news.
Iowa
Iowa National Guard holds send-off ceremony in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa National Guard continued deployment ceremonies for units headed to the Middle East for tours of duty on Thursday in Cedar Rapids.
Friends and family members of soldiers from Charlie Company, 224th Brigade Engineer Battalion in Cedar Rapids attended the ceremony. Those soldiers are headed to the Middle East to support Operation Inherent Resolve. It’s the military’s name for the international effort to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Officials say these send-offs are a vital tradition.
Commander Justus Knudsen says the ceremony is a way for those people to better understand why these soldiers are being sent off. He also says emotions among soldiers are mixed.
“They’re excited…everyone’s kind of excited, nervousness. There’s a lot going on to take in all at once. I think that kind of bring everyone together and gets you over that hump of uncertainty,” said Commander Knudsen.
A total of 1,800 soldiers from all around Iowa are heading to the Middle East this week.
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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