DES MOINES – Six Republicans in the House did not join the majority of their caucus and vote in favor of a bill that bans abortions once a baby’s heartbeat is detected.
Local 5 reached out to the six lawmakers for comment on why they chose to break with their party on this controversial and divisive bill. Rep. Lee Hein from Monticello told us a personal story behind his vote.
“I have a standard response to this issue whenever I get an email about this. Life begins at conception. It is a family decision,” said Hein. “And the Libertarian in me should either remain neutral or stay out of this decision-making process.”
“I have a daughter who has a family. She found that she was pregnant with their second child in January. She did an ultrasound and it showed it had fetal abnormalities. And upon further tests, it was decided that more than likely her pregnancy would end in some sort of a miscarriage or a stillborn, or it may live for a few hours after birth. She was somewhere in the 12 to 15 weeks,” said Hein. “At that time when we were looking at the bill, it didn’t have any exceptions, and at that time I made the decision that I could not support the bill.”
Local 5 is still waiting to hear back from the other five Republicans. Once, Rep. Chip Baltimore, would not go on camera.
