Abortion rights activists staged a rally on the statehouse grounds today (Friday), vowing to sue if Governor Kim Reynolds signs a bill into law that would ban nearly all abortions in the state. Suzanna de Baca, president of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland said “Sources tell us that in the next 24 hours that is exactly what she plans to do and so I am here to tell Governor Reynolds: ‘We will see you in court.'”   The Republican-led legislature passed a bill banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which happens around the sixth week of a pregnancy. Mark Stringer, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, says this abortion ban would be the most restrictive in the country. “And if the governor does sign this bill, the ACLU of Iowa will be proud to be a part of the litigation team that will stand with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland as we sue,” he said.

Many of the Republican legislators who spoke in favor of the bill during House and Senate debate are anxious for the matter to go to court, too, hoping it will be the catalyst for overturning Roe v Wade, the 1972 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Erin Davison-Rippey, director of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, was the lead-off speaker at today’s (Friday’s) rally. She says Planned Parenthood and its allies “will persist no matter what.”  “We will do whatever it takes to make sure that we protect the rights that our mothers, our grandmothers and our great-grandmothers have already won,” Davison-Rippey said.

Rally-goers also criticized a proposal that’s eligible for a vote in the House and Senate that would deny federal grants to Planned Parenthood sex ed programs for teenagers. Andi Grubb, director of education for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, says “tens of the thousands” of Iowa teens take the courses. “We empower young people to determine their own values, to determine their own boundaries and to practice healthy communication and consent,” Grubb said. “In an era of #metoo, we need more of that, not less of that.” Grubbs says classes explain how to use contraceptives to avoid pregnancy and protection to avoid sexually-transmitted diseases. Abstinence is also discussed.”We answer questions honestly and we tell people it’s o.k. not to have sex until you’re ready,” Grubb said. “And, yes, as a leading source of reproductive and sexual health education, Planned Parenthood teaches safe sex.”

Critics say abortion providers have a “conflict of interest” and should not be involved in government-funded sex ed classes.

(Radio Iowa)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A regulator says the prison that houses Iowa’s most violent offenders is exposing workers to harm by equipping them with radios that sometimes don’t work during emergencies and poorly trained security dogs. The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration found 21 serious violations during a recent inspection of the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. The agency is seeking a $49,500 fine against the Iowa Department of Corrections.

The Associated Press obtained the citation as part of a personnel appeal recently made public. The citation says radios fail to bring assistance to correctional officers who are under attack by inmates, including during two assaults that injured workers. It also says the department failed to provide K-9 officers with adequate time to train animals, which has led to dogs disobeying handlers.

CLINTON, Iowa (AP) — Police in an eastern Iowa city are investigating racist graffiti that was left on a bus belonging to a predominantly black church congregation. Senior Pastor Jerry Drake of Bethel AME Church in Clinton told the Clinton Herald that he found the graffiti April 27 on a door of the bus and on the seats inside. He says the discovery of what he called a hate crime has made the church members more cautious.

Clinton Police Capt. Steven Kopp told The Associated Press on Friday that the church building wasn’t the only structure in the area vandalized with racist language or neo-Nazi messages.
Kopp says there have been no arrests so far. He says officers interviewed one person who admitted several of the acts of vandalism, “but the church vandalism wasn’t one of them.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Supreme Court Justice Bruce Zager has announced his plans to retire later this year. Zager has served on the state’s high court since 2011, when he was appointed by then-Gov. Terry Branstad. Zager was one of three appointments made to fill vacancies created when three other justices were voted off the bench for their role in a unanimous 2009 decision that legalized same-sex marriage in Iowa.

Today (Friday), Zager announced his plan to retire effective Sept. 3. Zager did not give a reason for stepping down in his written remarks announcing his retirement. Under Iowa law, the governor appoints justices to fill vacancies on the high court. The governor will choose from three nominees submitted by the State Judicial Nominating Commission.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Investigators have determined that kitchen rags self-ignited to start a fire that engulfed the Plaza Lanes bowling alley in Des Moines. The Des Moines Fire Department said in a news release Friday that more than two dozen people from various agencies were involved in the investigation, which concluded the Dec. 18 fire was accidental.

Fire experts say spontaneous combustion can occur when heat generated through rapid oxidation causes various materials to catch fire. A Consumer Product Safety Commission study found that oil residue as low as 3 percent in fabrics can lead to ignition.

Plans for a new alley complex include a larger arcade, laser tag and a sports restaurant and bar.

CLINTON, Iowa (AP) — A Clinton woman accused of shaking her infant daughter and tossing her into a bassinet has taken a plea deal. The Clinton Herald reports that a judge accepted 22-year-old Naelynn Trude’s plea of not guilty on Thursday. The charge of child endangerment resulting in injury had been reduced in return for Trude’s plea. Clinton County District Court records say prosecutors agreed to recommend a suspended sentence as part of the agreement, but the agreement is not binding on the judge. Trude’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 14.

Investigators say Trude acknowledged shaking the little girl in July and tossing her into the bassinet while she continued to cry. A doctor says the baby’s injuries included a skull fracture and retinal bleeding.

The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a man who had sex with a woman after pretending to be someone else on Facebook. Michael Kelso-Christy created a fake Facebook profile in 2015 for a man who went to high school with a woman and began talking with the woman through the fake account. She eventually agreed that he would come to her house and have sex with her while she wore handcuffs and a blindfold. The woman later found out that Kelso-Christy was not the former classmate. Kelso-Christy was charged with first-degree burglary and third-degree sexual abuse, but was offered an agreement for a plea to second-degree burglary. Kelso-Christy sought to have the burglary charge dismissed — saying he had not entered the home to commit sexual abuse as the woman has agreed to have sex with him and his crime was fraud in hiding his real identity.

The Iowa Supreme Court upheld Kelso-Christy’s conviction, saying he knew the woman had not consented to have sex with him. It says it has long been the law in Iowa that consent to sex with one man cannot imply consent to sex with another, so Kelso-Christy could not have believed the woman consented to a sexual encounter with him. And the court says having the woman wear a blindfold indicated Kelso-Christy anticipated the woman might try to flee if she discovered it was him and not the man she agreed to have sex with.

(Radio Iowa)