Republican incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Democrat Christina Bohanan, who are running for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, engaged in a heated debate Monday over their positions on abortion and immigration policy during a televised debate. Ta.
The Iowa Press debate began with Bohanan and Miller-Meeks discussing their positions on abortion. Bohanan said Miller-Meeks supports Iowa’s current six-week abortion ban, which he characterized as “one of the strictest in the country.” The law restricts abortions from as early as the sixth week of pregnancy, after fetal heart activity can be detected, with exceptions in cases of rape, incest, or to save the mother’s life.
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Miller-Meeks was not a member of the Iowa Legislature in 2018 and 2023, when two versions of the so-called “fetal heart rate” bill were passed, but Bohannan said opponents of the bill were on the campaign trail. He said he not only supported the bill, but also “promoted” the bill. More restrictive abortion bans at the federal level.
But Miller-Meeks said the bill she voted for, the Life at Conception Act, would not ban abortion. This measure guarantees the “right to life” to all human beings and stipulates that human life begins at conception. The law does not specify any exceptions, but it does not allow prosecution of women who have abortions.
Although the bill does not explicitly mention abortion, Bohanan said defining life as beginning at pregnancy would effectively ban all abortions in the country.
“Everyone knows this. This is a character bill,” Bohannan said. “It creates full rights of personhood at the moment of conception. We all know that its legal effect is to completely ban abortion without exception throughout the country. This is precisely what people That’s what we knew we were signing when we signed it.”
Miller-Meeks said she supports exceptions to the abortion ban and said Bohannan is “lying” about the Republican Party’s record on abortion. She also pushed back against criticism that she supported an exception for the mother’s “life” rather than her “health.”
Miller-Meeks said she believes the two words have “very similar” definitions in the law, and that the word “life” means that a pregnant person is not allowed to have an abortion until a doctor is able to carry out an abortion. He said he disagreed with the argument made by some doctors and reproductive health care advocates that it would prevent people from performing the procedure. Close to death.
Speaking to reporters after the event, Miller-Meeks said she believes most doctors are “very well informed” about which abortions fall under these legal requirements. He said legal action should be taken by families who share stories of doctors not performing surgeries in life-threatening situations because they feared legal repercussions.
“I think most doctors have clear guidelines,” Miller-Meeks says. “And you have to ask that doctor, is that doctor for or against abortion? Are you for restrictions or are you against restrictions? But that’s something the doctor knows. I think it’s very clear that there is. I’m not an obstetrician, but I know when to intervene. So I think there is guidance.”
Miller-Meeks also said Bohannan’s stance on abortion is extreme, allowing abortion up to the time of birth. Bohanan said he supports the federal government’s return to the Roe v. Wade standard, which was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“What my opponent just said was that he refuses to answer whether there are any restrictions or restrictions on abortion,” Miller-Meeks said. “In Roe v. Wade, there are no restrictions or restrictions on abortion.”
The two candidates are facing off for the seat in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, which represents much of southeastern Iowa, including the cities of Iowa City, Davenport and Fairfield. The race is one of the most competitive in the country, and one of 26 races marked as “unexpected” by election experts such as Cook Political Report. These races have the potential to determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2025. Along with the 1st District race, Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District race is also considered a competitive race.
The increased national attention has led to significant fundraising and spending in the 1st District. Bohannan has raised more than $1.8 million and spent $3 million in campaign funds, while Miller-Meeks has raised $1 million, according to the Federal Election Commission’s quarterly report ending Sept. 30. And spent $1.2 million.
In addition to sparring over abortion, both candidates also challenged each other’s records on issues of immigration and border security. Both candidates said they support securing the U.S. southern border and changing the legal immigration system, but disagree on the best way to achieve those goals.
Bohanan said he would have supported a bipartisan immigration policy that was not considered in the U.S. House of Representatives, pointing to Republican support for the bill in both chambers.
“This is what we have, and there are people who talk about solving these problems. But… at the end of the day, they don’t want to do anything about it, because they want to continue to play politics with this issue. ,” Bohannan said. “And this is, you know, an example of Rep. Miller-Meeks voting against or even refusing to vote yes on a bill that could actually make a big difference.”
But Miller-Meeks took action on immigration, voting for the House Republican-backed Border Security Act of 2023, which was never considered in the U.S. Senate, and said a bipartisan package was never proposed. said. She also claimed that Bohanan supports sanctuary cities and groups seeking to abolish ICE.
“My opponent never mentioned the border, never said anything about the border, never said the border should be secure until it became a political liability for him and his party,” Miller-Meeks said. he said.
Another key topic discussed during Monday night’s debate was Congress’ economic goals for next year, plans that could be upended depending on who wins the White House and each chamber of Congress. Miller-Meeks called for renewing the Trump tax law, passed in 2017 and set to expire at the end of 2025. Repealing these tax laws would mean the expiration of large child care tax credits provided under the laws, which Republicans say could be a blow. The budget of many lower class and middle class families.
Bohannan said he believes Congress should pursue a different tax policy.
“Look, that was 2017, that was seven years ago. A lot of things happened,” Bohannan said. “As you know, COVID-19 has changed a lot of things about our economy and our economy. So we need to look at our tax system holistically and make sure it works well for the middle class. You know, my opponent supports tax cuts for the super-wealthy and billionaires who are donors to corporations, and that we all pay our fair share. I believe that we need a tax system that allows people to do more, and I will never support raising taxes on the middle class.”
Concerns over an expiring tax bill have become even more prominent in this year’s election debates as many families across the country struggle with inflation and high costs of living. Bohanan said the federal government should “recapture” some of the coronavirus-era relief funds that remain unspent, plowing the money back into other funding needs to reduce debt and stabilize debt. He said that this could help create a more economical environment.
But Bohannan also said some of the higher costs Iowans are seeing at grocery stores aren’t due to higher government spending, even after supply chain issues caused the initial spike. He also argued that this is because companies are keeping prices high due to the pandemic. Resolved.
Miller-Meeks said Bohannan’s argument works in her favor because the post-pandemic price gouging and high inflation occurred during President Joe Biden’s tenure.
“You’re making my case for why people should re-elect Donald Trump and why they should re-elect me,” Miller-Meeks said. “So if companies are afraid of raising prices under President Trump, maybe President Trump should go back to the White House. Companies are just raising prices under President Biden.”
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