(Iowa News Service) – Groups working for human rights causes in Iowa warn proposed cuts being debated in Congress would trickle down to the people least able to sustain them.  The Trump administration has proposed $880 billion in cuts over the next decade to Medicaid and other services, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Progress Iowa Executive Director Mazie Stillwell said those cuts would fall most squarely on average Iowans, many of them kids, who don’t have a voice in the process. “There is so much fear right now, and it’s fear from everyday working Iowans who know there’s no one fighting for them,” said Stillwell. “It’s the Iowans who know that when push comes to shove, and when programs are put on the chopping block, they’re the ones who are going to suffer.”

The Trump administration has said it is working to downsize the federal government and cut expenses.  About 270,000 Iowans receive SNAP or federal food assistance, and more than 700,000 get their health coverage from Medicaid. Stillwell contended that Iowans aren’t the only ones afraid of potential social service cuts, but politicians are too.

She said she suspects that’s one reason they aren’t showing up at town hall meetings, that have long been the hallmark of grassroots democracy in the state. “What we’ve seen is these members of Congress running away from their constituents,” said Stillwell. “They are refusing to answer their questions. They are trying to make a mockery of their constituents and their efforts.”

Stillwell said in light of the just-passed income tax filing deadline, Iowans want to know their money is being used to represent their interests – and not to fund tax cuts or corporate interests.

(Radio Iowa) – University of Iowa law professor Josephine Gittler has founded the “Alliance for Civic Education of Iowa” to address what she sees as a very big problem. “There are many young people here in Iowa who do not have a basic knowledge of American government and American history and the rights and responsibilities of American citizenship that they need to be informed and responsible citizens,” Gittler says.

Gittler was at the Iowa Capitol last week to lobby for the bill that would make passing the U-S Citizenship test a requirement for high school graduation. The bill won approval in the House and Senate, but Gittler says it’s just a first step on what’s needed. “There are many polls and surveys that show ignorance about basic facts,” Gittler says. “For example, one recent poll showed 36% of adults could not name all three branches of government — legislative, executive and judicial. What could be a more basic fact than that?”

Gittler founded the non-profit “Alliance for Civic Education of Iowa” last summer to promote civics education in Iowa’s public and private K-through-12 schools as well as colleges and universities. Gittler says the alliance will provide curriculum for teachers to use in their classrooms and it will host events. One of her goals is to start a civics competition for Iowa high school students.

“Every person that graduates from high school who is a U.S. citizen is going to have the rights and responsibilities of citizenship for their whole life, ” she said. “They may or may not use the other things they learn in school and they’re going to have to know what to do to be good citizens.” In 1973, Gittler became the first woman faculty member in the University of Iowa College of Law. One of her heroines is Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman appointed to the U-S Supreme Court.

“When she stepped down from the Supreme Court, she devoted herself to promoting civics education,” Gittler says, “and founded a center at the University of Arizona which is called iCivics, to promote civics education.” Forty-four years ago, Gittler was the co-founder of a national think tank that still provides education about maternal and child health. Gittler is also a professor of pediatrics in the University of Iowa College of Medicine and a professor of nursing at the university.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Catholic Health Initiatives-Iowa has dropped its argument in a medical malpractice case that the loss of an unborn child does not equate to the death of a “person” for the purpose of calculating damage awards. The nonprofit, tax-exempt entity is one of several defendants in a Polk County malpractice case involving the death of an unborn child.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch reported, last month, attorneys for CHI and MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center argued an unborn child should not be considered a “patient” for purposes of calculating damages in the case. They also argued that “finding an unborn child to be a ‘person’ would lead to serious implications in other areas of the law.” That position appeared to clash with CHI’s mission statement and ethics guidelines, both of which are based on the concept that human life begins at the moment of conception.

In Iowa, court-ordered awards for noneconomic losses stemming from medical malpractice are capped at $250,000, except in cases that entail the “loss or impairment of mind or body.” Initially, CHI and MercyOne argued the cap on damages applied in cases where the “loss” was that of a fetus or an unborn child. However, during a court hearing on Friday (April 18), an attorney for CHI and MercyOne, Christine Conover, informed the court it was withdrawing from the motion to cap damages in the case on that basis. “We are a Catholic hospital and obviously the Catholic faith believes that life begins at conception,” Conover told Polk County District Judge Scott J. Beattie.

“To be honest, I had wondered about that stance,” Beattie told Conover, referring to the hospital’s previously filed motion seeking to cap damages. “It seemed like kind of an odd stance,” he added, noting that it seemed to contradict the position that CHI had taken in other legal matters.

In a written statement issued Friday, Bob Ritz, president and CEO of MercyOne, stated “we are heartbroken that our belief that human personhood begins at conception would ever be called into question. As a Catholic health system, the sanctity of life is not just a belief we hold; it is the foundation of every action we take. “While the motion (to limit damages) was accurate from a purely legal standpoint, it has caused confusion and concern. That is why we have asked our counsel to withdraw the motion with respect to MercyOne. No courtroom argument should ever cast doubt on the deeply held Catholic values that guide MercyOne.”

The question of whether the cap on damages would apply in the case is still an issue for other defendants in the case, including Pella Regional Health Center. The lawsuit involves the treatment provided to Miranda Anderson of Poweshiek County.

The case is scheduled for trial on May 12, 2025. At Friday’s hearing, Beattie indicated he will rule on the question of damages, as well as other unresolved pretrial disputes, as quickly as possible.

(Creston, Iowa) – An investigation into a property damage accident in Union County, resulted in a citation for a man from Warren County. According to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, at around 7:30-a.m. Saturday, 19-year-old Kash Miller, of Indianola, called the Sheriff’s Office and said he had put his 2001 Dodge Dakota pickup truck in the ditch at 205th and Ivy Avenue, and that he would arrange for it to removed.

The Sheriff’s Office would later receive calls from persons who said there were beer cans everywhere in the ditch, and damage to two stop signs. A deputy confirmed damage to the stop signs, and upon further investigation determined the truck was traveling north on Ivy Avenue when it entered the ditch. The deputy also observed beer cans scattered around the truck, but no one around the vehicle.

The Union County Deputy spoke with a neighbor, who said they heard the crash sometime between 10-and 11-p.m., Friday. Secondary Roads Department personnel estimated the damage to the stop signs at $450 each, for a total of $900. Damage to the pickup was estimated at $5,000.

Since there were no injuries reported, and Miller said he would have the vehicle removed from the scene, the  sheriff’s report said he will be mailed a citation for Failure To Maintain Control of the vehicle.