Statewide Iowa — Democratic candidate Deidre DeJear says as governor she’d resist new abortion restrictions.
While she says she’d restore state funding for routine health exams at Planned Parenthood, she also says that she would push to ensure rural hospitals maintain delivery rooms.
A state report shows at least 33 Iowa hospital maternity wards have closed over the past two decades. DeJear says the state needs to ensure birthing moms have reasonable access to a hospital for delivery.
DeJear says that the state government needs to do more to address child care deserts, where there are few or no options for parents.
DeJear, who is challenging Republican Governor Kim Reynolds in the General Election, says contraceptives should be available over the counter. Reynolds endorsed a similar idea in 2018 with a bill that would have made contraceptives like Plan B available to adult women without a prescription, but it stalled in the Republican-led House in 2019 and 2021.
