Local legislators face fiery crown at Waukon forum

WAUKON — Legislators representing Clayton, Allamakee and Winneshiek Counties faced a series of pointed questions Saturday during a sometimes contentious legislative forum at the Waukon Farm Bureau office.

State Representatives Michael Bergan (R, Decorah) and Kristi Hager (R, Waukon) and State Sen. Michael Breitbach (R, Strawberry Point), who combine to represent most of Clayton and Winneshiek Counties as well as all of Allamakee County, faced questions about abortion, immigration enforcement, education and the state’s budget from a gathering of about 20 people that appeared to be split among Republicans and Democrats.

The most contentious questions came from those upset at the House of Representatives for pushing legislation forward that would ban most abortions in Iowa after the sixth week of pregnancy. The House Human Resources Committee, of which Bergan is vice-chairman, amended Senate File 359, which prohibited sale or transfer of fetal body parts (which is already illegal under federal law), to add the prohibition of abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected except in the case of medical emergencies.

“Most women wouldn’t know they were pregnant after 42 days,” one commenter said through tears as part of a nearly four-minute question during which she said she sometimes went as many as 60 days between menstrual periods. “The government wants to be in our uterus.”

For more of this story see the March 21 Monona Outlook.