Bills introduced into the Iowa General Assembly

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Iowa reproductive healthcare bills

(ABC 6 News) — The Iowa General Assembly got underway on Jan. 13, and legislators have been hard at work introducing new bills onto the House and Senate floor.

Several of these bills relate to reproductive health care.

Senate Democrats proposed a bill which would make search warrants and subpoenas for any apps, computer, phones or other devices, which collect data on menstrual cycles, illegal.

Also introduced last Thursday is a joint resolution which aims to make an amendment to make reproductive health care a constitutional right in the state of Iowa.

The bill includes prenatal, postpartum care, childbirth, abortion related care, contraceptives, infertility treatments and more.

Under the resolution, the state would be allowed to regulate abortion related care after fetal viability but would not be allowed to prohibit an abortion if a doctor determines one is necessary to protect the life of a person who is pregnant.

Since the resolution would be making a constitutional amendment, it would need to be passed by both the house and senate this session and again next session before being handed off to Iowa voters to ratify.

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Iowa new education bills

Other bills were introduced to the floor involving education, which could mean new requirements for curriculum, graduation, school protocols and more.

One bill would require students to be taught age appropriate human growth and development starting in the first grade.

The bill requires that the curriculum includes a high-definition ultrasound showing the brain, heart and other organs in fetal development, an animation or computer rendering showing the “humanity” of the fetus and showing prenatal development starting at fertilization.

Another bill introduced by the committee on education would require students to pass a u.S. Citizenship and naturalization test before they can walk across the graduation stage.

Students grades 9-12 would need to get at least 60 percent of the questions right before they’re handed their diplomas. The test would be free — and the bill says the students can take the test as many times as they need to pass  the law would go into effect starting July 2026.

 This new law would require colleges to post each course’s syllabus online before the first day of class. This would include a brief description of each major course requirement, any required or recommended reading material and a general description of the subject matter of each lecture or discussion. This law will go into effect at the end of this year if passed by the general assembly.