Bishops respond to the passage of a heartbeat bill

July 13, 2023

The four bishops of Iowa, through the Iowa Catholic Conference, issued the following statement regarding the passage of the heartbeat bill.

We commend the Iowa Legislature for passing a law that would prohibit abortions after a child’s
cardiac activity can be detected. As Pope Francis has said, “Let us respect and love human life,
especially vulnerable life in a mother’s womb.” For us, this is a matter of personal rights and
dignity and the common good. Human life is precious and should be protected in our laws to the
greatest extent possible.

As a state and as a society, we should commit ourselves to working for the protection of all
vulnerable populations from violence – wherever individuals and groups are at risk. We urge
people of good will in Iowa both to work for an end to the practice of abortion and to join us in
tireless, unremitting and compassionate solidarity with pregnant women in distress, with the men
who fathered these children, and with families in need.