Unlike Colorado Rep. Cory Gardner, Iowa Republican Joni Ernst is not denying that she supports fetal personhood bills. Ernst has supported a personhood bill in the Iowa state legislature, and she’s promising to do the same if elected to the United States Senate:
“I will continue to stand by that. I am a pro-life candidate, and this has been shaped by my religious beliefs through the years,” she said. “So I support that.”
But like Gardner, Ernst is trying to downplay the significance of her stance. According to Ernst, if you’re an Iowa voter who thinks a bill outlawing in vitro fertilization and some kinds of birth control is a little extreme, don’t worry! It wouldn’t pass even if she voted for it:
“If you look at any sort of an amendment at the federal level … they come together through consensus,” she said Wednesday. “And, honestly, we don’t have a consensus. It would take two-thirds of the House, two-thirds of the Senate to even pass a proposed amendment, and then it would have to be ratified by three-quarters of our states’ legislatures. We don’t have that consensus at the federal level.”
Only in Republican world would “vote for me because my extreme positions are too extreme to actually become law” seem like a good argument for electing a candidate. Ernst also tried the “I’m a woman so I must be pro-woman” argument that worked so well for Michigan’s Terri Lynn Land, literally saying “I’m a woman, and I have three beautiful daughters, and I just think when it comes to women’s issues, I have an edge on women’s issues.” While denying that a personhood bill would affect women’s birth control rights.
Enough is enough. Please give $3 to help elect strong Democratic women up and down the ballot.
Voting by mail is convenient, easy, and defeats the best of the GOP’s voter suppression efforts. Sign up here to check eligibility and vote by mail, then get your friends, family, and coworkers to sign up as well.
Personhood bills are so extreme that voters in Mississippi and Colorado have rejected them in recent years, but Republicans keep running Senate candidates who support them. That should tell us something.
