Iowa State Representative Zach Dieken has introduced HF2256, a bill which would totally abolish abortion by amending the state's homicide code to include abortion. In addition to Dieken, the bill has been coauthored by Reps. Ken Carlson, Luana Stoltenberg, Mark Cisneros, Steven Bradley, and Brad Sherman.
Currently, homicide is defined in Iowa as "A person who kills another person with malice aforethought." Dieken's bill would add to that definition:
a. As used in this chapter, 'person' includes an unborn child when the person is the victim of the crime.
b. For the purposes of this section:
(1) 'Fertilization' means the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum.
(2) 'Fetal death' means the same as defined in section 3144.1.4
(3) 'Unborn child' means an individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization to fetal death or live birth.
The bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Steven Holt, who has full authority over the bill's fate. In Iowa, committee chairs create subcommittees to consider each bill assigned to the committee who then recommend bills for passage to the whole committee. If a committee chair does not want a bill to pass, he can simply deny it a subcommittee hearing.
Dieken is a full-blown abolitionist who rejects the incrementalism of the pro-life establishment. Last July, he wrote an article explaining his opposition to the heartbeat bill that was being considered at the time, saying that heartbeat bills are "a far cry from real justice," before concluding:
Abortion is the murder of another human being – an innocent child. Roe has been overturned, the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled there is no right to an abortion in Iowa. So why aren’t we courageous enough to project the lives of innocent children? It’s a question I’m afraid to hear the answer to.
"The LORD alone raises up those in government to be His Deacons. I personally couldn’t stand before Him supporting these types of bills. As elected officials, the blood of millions of children is on our hands, we can do better than window dressing."
An Iowa publication wrote about Dieken in December, reporting on a recent speech he gave about the need for Christians to abolish abortion and reject the myth of neutrality as we engage in politics.
None of this is a surprise to Dieken's voters who elected him to the State House in 2022 by a massive 56-24 margin over incumbent Dennis Bush. Dieken campaigned on abolishing abortion as one of his primary issues.
Calls to Action
- Email House Judiciary Committee Chair Steven Holt asking him to support HF2256 and give it a subcommittee hearing (steven.holt@legis.iowa.gov). If you are in Iowa, also give Holt a phone call at (515) 281-3221.
- Follow Iowa Abolitionists on Facebook, where updates on the bill's progress and on any future events and rallies in Iowa will be provided.
- Follow Zach Dieken on Facebook.
- If you live in Iowa, get connected with other abolitionists at this End Abortion Now meeting on February 9th in Des Moines.
