Maggie DeWitte testifies before the Iowa Senate in support of the Protect Life Amendment

My name is Maggie DeWitte, and I am the Executive Director of Iowans for LIFE and the spokesman for the Coalition of pro-life leaders.  In 2018 a grave injustice happened in the state of Iowa.  A fundamental right to abortion was created in our Iowa Constitution.  This was never a right granted in our constitution prior to 2018.  Those who support this amendment are being accused of taking away women’s rights.  But if anyone is taking away rights, it was the Iowa Supreme Court.  They took away the rights of our duly elected legislators to do their job: create law.  They took away the rights of Iowa citizens to exercise our right to have our voices heard regarding commonsense laws that will safeguard women and families in our state.

Yes, this amendment is about abortion; but it’s much more than abortion.  Its about the way our branches of government are supposed to work; its about one branch usurping their authority and thereby opening the door to late term abortion — even to the point of birth and making Iowans pay for it.

This amendment will not end abortion in our state.  It will not stop one single abortion from happening.  This amendment allows us to fix a mistake — a big mistake that unelected judges made.  This should have bipartisan support. Every legislator in this capitol should support their ability to create law and oppose judges who take that away from them.

I strongly support this amendment, and I thank the Senators for bringing this forward.  I urge you to vote in favor of SJR 2.