Iowa Catholic Conference Newsletter, March 27, 2026

This week at the Statehouse

A priority of the Iowa Catholic Conference has passed the legislature and is eligible for the governor’s signature. The “Med Act,” HF 571, provides additional conscience protections for medical professionals. We believe that no one should be forced to participate in providing a procedure or medication to which they may have to violate their oath to Do No Harm. As Dr. Lauris Kaldjian, director of the University of Iowa’s medical school bioethics program has said, “I have heard too many stories of moral distress from students and professionals whose freedom to not participate in morally controversial practices has not been respected.”

HF 2713 was advanced by a House Appropriations subcommittee. Among other provisions, this “omnibus” bill would ensure that school districts cannot unfairly block community providers from participating in the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program. It also creates a fall sign-up period to receive an Education Savings Account for the second semester. We encourage you to send a message in support of the bill here. The Senate has its own version of the bill, SF 2425.

HF 2711 would eliminate a state policy to use “affirmative action” to correct deficiencies in the state employment system. The bill also eliminates racial and cultural bias training that was put in place for law enforcement by a bipartisan bill in 2020. The ICC appreciates that the chair of the Judiciary Committee has an amendment ready to leave those trainings in place. 

HF 601, opposed by the ICC, was cleared by the House Ways and Means Committee. It is projected that the bill would raise hundreds of millions of dollars by putting additional fees on wire transmissions of funds to other countries. Migrants are big users of these services to support family members abroad. The new fees would be another burden for people who are simply trying to help their family and just help them cover the bare necessities.

The national school choice group EdChoice conducts monthly polling across the country. If you’re listening to the political chatter in Iowa you might hear about how ESAs are hurting public schools and the state budget. In fact, 65% of all adults in Iowa support ESAs; 75% of school parents feel the same way. 62% think ESAs should be available regarding of family income (the status quo).

Coming up

Priorities targeted by majority Republican leaders such as property tax reform and eminent domain are still undecided as the session moves into April.

The ICC has put up a new action alert in support of a bill which would remove the arrest and conviction records for survivors of human trafficking. HF 2696 has passed the House and a Senate committee, so it is eligible for debate in the Senate. This would help survivors by removing the barriers they face due to their criminal records, specifically in cases of housing, employment, and education. It also addresses the re-trafficking that can occur when victims are unable to move forward due to these barriers, causing them to go back to their traffickers due to the lack of options.

We’re still trying to move HF 864 forward although it’s been sitting in the Senate for almost a year. It would require age verification for adult websites. Send a message to your Senator here.

You’re invited! Iowa Religious Freedom Day breakfast

Tuesday, April 14 is the annual Iowa Religious Freedom Day event from 7:30 – 9 a.m. at the Iowa State Capitol. Gov. Kim Reynolds is scheduled to sign a proclamation at 8:30 a.m. This informal, interfaith breakfast brings together leaders from across the state. The breakfast will be headlined by Micah Fries of the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network with a discussion on how we build friendships without compromising our own beliefs. He says, “We believe religions should maintain all of their unique theological tenets, respecting specific differences within religions, but should join together on the principles we share in common, like community, cooperation, and the common good.”

The Iowa Catholic Conference is one of the co-sponsors of the breakfast along with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and DMARC. Join us in advocating for and exercising our collective right to freedom of religion!

250^th anniversary celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence

This year, the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is working to develop resources to help Catholics in the commemoration. A webpage, www.usccb.org/weholdthesetruths, serves as the landing page for all resources. 

And finally,

We pray you have a blessed Holy Week!