FACT CHECK: Abortion and Pro-Family

Grassley works to support women and families.

  • Chuck Grassley is pro-life, pro-woman, and pro-family.
  • Grassley supports protecting the life of the mother.
  • He supports miscarriage procedures and prenatal health care. 
  • He has repeatedly voted for exceptions for rape and incest and life of the mother. 
  • He votes for access to contraception including over-the-counter birth control. In fact, he introduced legislation that would make contraceptives available over the counter, improving access and convenience for women. Senators Ernst and Grassley are working with Congresswomen Hinson and Miller-Meeks to make this the law of the land.
  • The Dobbs decision returns the power to Iowans through their elected state representatives, not unelected judges, to set policy. Grassley has affirmed multiple times that he believes abortion should be a state issue.

Mike Franken wants to federalize abortions-on-demand, financed by taxpayers, up until the moment of birth.

  • Mike Franken agrees with Joe Biden on abortion and goes even further. He supports late-term, taxpayer-funded partial-birth abortions, and would be a rubber stamp-vote for Joe Biden’s abortion agenda. 
  • During the U.S. Senate Democrat Primary Debate hosted by Iowa PBS, he said there should not be a limit to abortion and there should not be parental notification laws for minors having an abortion. That’s extreme. 
  • If Franken had his way, abortions would be performed on-demand, up until birth – on the taxpayer’s dime. He’s too radical for Iowa.

BACKGROUND

Pro-Family and child care 

  • As chairman of the Finance Committee, Grassley convened a bipartisan working group to study the issue of paid leave and work to find a bipartisan consensus on what the federal government’s role should be.
    • The working group was convened again by the committee’s current leadership, Senators Wyden and Crapo, and Grassley remains a member.
  • Congress recently passed $10 billion for grants to child care centers to reopen or remain open following the pandemic. It requires states to support a variety of options, including family child care and faith-based operations.
  • Parents ought to be empowered to choose the best child care option for their family, and that federal policy ensures a variety of choices are available, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.
  • Grassley is also the author of the Healthy Moms and Babies Act, which tackles the increasing rates of maternal mortality and morbidity.
    • It would improve maternal and child health care by delivering high-quality coordinated health care and modernizing maternal care through telehealth services.

Foster Care and Adoption

  • For the last 20 years, Grassley has been calling attention to the challenges faced by foster youth, and working to help make adoption a reality for kids needing a permanent, loving forever family.
  • He’s worked on legislation that provides incentives for adoption from foster care and improved resources for kids in the child welfare system and their families. Most recently, he helped author and ensure the passage of the Family First bill, which improves access to services such as substance abuse treatment and parenting classes for families who are at risk of entering foster care.
  • In the December 2020 COVID relief bill, he successfully advocated for increased funding and flexibility for child welfare agencies to help older teens and young adults in foster care survive the economic downturn.
  • Grassley’s bill, the Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act, which improves the availability of housing assistance for young adults aging out of foster care was signed into law, and it is already benefiting young people in Waterloo, and other Iowa cities.

Advocating for Victims and Preventing Sexual Assault

  • Grassley introduced the Military Justice Improvement Act with Senator Gillibrand in 2013, and has been advocating strongly for its passage for the last 8 years. An updated version of this bill has now been signed into law.
    • This bill, now called the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act reforms the military justice system and seeks to curb retaliation against survivors by taking the decision to prosecute offenders out of the chain of command.
  • In 2019, Grassley joined Senator Gillibrand in introducing the Safe to Report Act which would require the DOD to develop a policy that would prevent those who report a sexual assault from being punished for minor misconduct that comes to light as a result of the investigation into the assault.
  • Grassley once again partnered with Gillibrand to introduce the bipartisan Campus Accountability and Safety Act to combat sexual assault on college campuses.
    • It would protect students by providing them with additional resources and by strengthening colleges’ accountability and transparency standards.

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