Letter to the Editor: Vote for candidates who maintain our rights.

(The following Letter to the Editor has been submitted by Melanie Tietz of Decorah): In 2018 the Iowa Legislature passed the "Fetal Heartbeat" law. It bans abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy, before most women even know they're pregnant. There are VERY limited exceptions. Governor Kim Reynolds signed the Fetal Heartbeat bill and celebrated soon after that Iowa has the strictest law on the books. That law has not yet taken effect because it was blocked in the courts prior to the recent Supreme Court decision. She is now advocating that the court reinstate this law in light of the Supreme Court decision. If the Iowa court doesn't, a Republican legislature will be poised to pass it again in January. And if she's still the Governor, she'll sign it. The Supreme Court decision took us back 50 years in one day. This election is more important than any other. This one will decide if women will be second class citizens with no right to body autonomy. Many of us barely remember a time when abortions were done in back alleys and women died. Our daughters cannot even fathom this brutal reality. Representative Michael Bergan voted for the Fetal Heartbeat bill. Apparently, he is fine with the cruelty and devastation this will cause our daughters. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson supports banning ALL abortions with NO exceptions. Senator Chuck Grassley supports banning abortion and has even supported a bill prohibiting minors from traveling out of state for abortion care. The Iowa motto written on our state flag is "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain." Vote for candidates who will defend this motto for ALL of us. Vote for Tim Lecander for Iowa House and Liz Mathis for IA-01 Congress and Deidre DeJear for Governor and Admiral Michael Franken for Senate.