DES MOINES – According to Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, abortion shouldn’t be a top issue, and talking about it is a “disservice.”

Iowa is facing a severe maternal healthcare crisis. Women in one-third of Iowa’s 99 counties have no access to birthing hospitals. Within the last 15 years, 30 OB-GYN units have closed in Iowa.

Women in states with similar draconian abortion bans are dying and being denied critical care because of abortion bans that are similar to Iowa’s. And yet Miller-Meeks doesn’t think the pain and suffering of these women and their families are a priority.

“The fact is Iowa is facing a maternal healthcare crisis that’s been accelerated by the draconian abortion ban Mariannette Miller-Meeks supports. Miller-Meeks clearly doesn’t understand access to proper healthcare and IVF are the most important issues in the world to Iowans who are trying to grow their families,” said IDP spokesperson Paige Godden. “Iowa deserves better than Miller-Meek’s callous disregard for the lives of women.”