Republican lawmakers advance amendment stating Iowa Constitution doesn't protect abortion rights

[RandySF]

Republicans in the Iowa Legislature are speeding forward with a proposed constitutional amendment stating that the Iowa Constitution does not protect abortion rights.

The Iowa House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday afternoon along party lines to advance the proposal, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. In the Iowa Senate, an identical amendment will be debated by the full chamber Thursday.

Republicans say the measure is needed to respond to the "judicial overreach" of a 2018 Iowa Supreme Court decision that found a fundamental right to abortion in the state constitution. Democrats argue the goal is to strip away Iowans' rights.

"In response to judicial overreach and to prevent late-term and taxpayer-funded abortion in Iowa, I believe we need to advance this resolution, follow the process to amend the Iowa Constitution and allow the voters of Iowa to make the final decision," said Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison and the chair of the committee.



https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/12/iowa-republicans-advance-constitutional-abortion-amendment/4737728002/

[comradebillyboy]

1. The Supremacy Clause

The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States (Article VI, Clause 2), establishes that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the "supreme Law of the Land", and thus take priority over any conflicting state laws.[1] It provides that state courts are bound by, and state constitutions subordinate to, the supreme law.[2] However, federal statutes and treaties are supreme only if they do not contravene the Constitution.[3]

In essence, it is a conflict-of-laws rule specifying that certain federal acts take priority over any state acts that conflict with federal law, but when federal law conflicts with the Constitution that law is null and void. In this respect, the Supremacy Clause follows the lead of Article XIII of the Articles of Confederation, which provided that "Every State shall abide by the determination of the United States in Congress Assembled, on all questions which by this confederation are submitted to them."[3] A constitutional provision announcing the supremacy of federal law, the Supremacy Clause assumes the underlying priority of federal authority, only when that authority is expressed in the Constitution itself.[4] No matter what the federal government or the states might wish to do, they have to stay within the boundaries of the Constitution. This makes the Supremacy Clause the cornerstone of the whole U.S. political structure.[5][6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supremacy_Clause