The Iowa Senate passed a contentious bill last week to defund medical providers that perform abortions.

State Senator Jerry Behn says Senate File 2 would create a new state family planning program that would replace the current family planning waiver program for Medicaid. He says the bill would continue to utilize federal money for family planning programs, but it would eliminate taxpayer money going to providers that perform abortions. The Boone Senator points out that he’s not surprised how fast this bill went through the Senate.

“One of the deals is some of the investigations going on in Planned Parenthood. The other thing is, there is some talk at the federal level about not having taxpayer funds going toward abortions. The idea was that if we had our own program in line, we would be ahead of the curve just a little bit. We thought this (bill) would cover a lot of bases and would keep us in line with the feds if they move forward in their’s.”

He adds that it was a contested debate when the bill went to the Senate floor. Behn voted along party lines as the bill passed 30 to 20. The bill is now in the House for consideration.