Bill Would Let Women Sue Doctors Who Perform Their Abortions

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow a woman who gets an abortion to sue the doctor who performed the procedure if she experiences emotional distress later.If approved, it would be the first law of its kind in the U.S.The proposal, which was endorsed Tuesday by a GOP-led three-member panel of lawmakers, would permit the woman to file a lawsuit at any point in her life, something that goes against typical statute of limitation rules. It could also make the state vulnerable to costly court challenges.”What we’re asking for is that individuals, doctors and clinics that make money off of women by giving them abortions are simply held accountable,” said Sen. Mark Chelgren, the Republican who introduced the bill. “That’s all this does. It protects women from people who would normally be trying to sell them something in a time when they are under the most stress that is kind of imaginable.”The bill goes next to another committee. It’s unclear how much GOP support the idea has in the Iowa Legislature, though the state’s incoming Republican governor did not dismiss it.

Regardless of whether the proposal advances to the full Legislature, it highlights how much abortion will dominate Iowa politics this year. The governor has already proposed a plan to end state funding for Planned Parenthood by passing up millions of federal Medicaid dollars. Instead, he would tap into a fund that currently helps at-risk youth stay out of the welfare and juvenile justice systems.

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