(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says the 2024 election was a political lesson on how voters view the abortion issue.  “Abortion extremism was just resoundingly defeated in the presidential race and in Iowa,” Reynolds said. Reynolds was the keyonte speaker at the annual Iowa Rally for Life at the state capitol. Pastor Michael DeMastis of the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ delivered the opening prayer at the event.

“God, we pray for an end to abortion in America,” DeMastis said. The crowd cheered as Governor Reynolds talked about the repeal of Roe v Wade and the Iowa law she signed that bans most abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy. Reynolds signed the law twice, in 2018 and 2023, but it wasn’t until last summer that the Iowa Supreme Court turned back lawsuits and declared the law constitutional.

From Gov. Reynolds’ Facebook page (1-27-25)

“In this environment, some say that defending life is too hard, that our only option is to abandon our principles and give up the fight but Iowa’s own experience proves that theory wrong,” Reynolds said. “We’ve repeatedly won that debate at the ballot box.” Reynolds says she is committed to standing against the culture of death in all its forms.

In late November, after the election, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland president Ruth Richardson said Iowans now face significant hardships when trying to access abortion and are forced to travel out of state. She cited a study that found abortions had declined nearly 40 percent in Iowa after the six-week abortion ban took effect July 29th.