Iowa took a stance to defend the unborn and the state’s attorney general is now standing in the way of justice by refusing to defend the state’s recently-enacted law banning abortion of babies with detectable heartbeats.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Iowa Solicitor General Jeffrey Thompson said that Attorney General Tom Miller has “disqualified himself from representing the state” in the battle to defend the law when it comes before a court.
“The disqualification is based on the Attorney General’s determination that he could not zealously assert the state’s position because of his core belief that the statute, if upheld, would undermine rights and protections for women,” said Thompson.
Since Iowa attorney generals are elected separately from governors, they are not required to pursue policies laid forth by the executive branch.
What’s most ironic about Tom Miller basing his objection to the heartbeat law on the supposed rights of women is that a woman governor, Kim Reynolds, signed the bill into law. So, essentially, Attorney General Tom Miller thinks he understands women’s rights better than his lady superior.
According to LifeSiteNews, Miller’s objection came as ” Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit to prevent it from taking effect on July 1, citing Roe. Thomas More Society and the Liberty Counsel have both offered to defend the law pro-bono.”
In no short order, the abortion conglomerate Planned Parenthood praised Tom Miller for his brave defense of women, even though he defied the most powerful woman in his state to do it.
“We commend Attorney General Tom Miller for standing up for a woman’s right to control her own body, and decide for herself whether and when to become a parent,” Planned Parenthood executive vice president Dawn Laugens said. “Not only is this ban blatantly unconstitutional, it’s also extremely harmful to women.”
The good news, however, is that the law will not be entirely defenseless; the Thomas More Society has offered to represent the state.
“Since the Thomas More Society’s mission is to protect women and babies from the devastating consequences of abortion, when there is a choice between life and death, the Thomas More Society is honored to be called upon to defend life,” Thomas More Society special counsel Martin Cannon said in a statement.
Given the current makeup of the Supreme Court and a certain Justice Kennedy, it is unlikely that the heartbeat bill would survive or overturn Roe v. Wade.