Rick Morain is the former publisher and owner of the Jefferson Herald, for which he writes a regular column.

Question: When is a bribe not a bribe, but a thank-you gift?

Answer: When it’s paid after the fact, not before.

So says the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bernie Scolaro is a retired school counselor, a past president of the Sioux City Education Association, and former Sioux City school board member.

A man attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania on July 13. A bullet killed Corey Comperatore, who was sitting behind the candidate at the rally. Trump was wounded when something (bullet, glass, or shrapnel) grazed his ear, producing much blood. 

Neither the hospital nor the attending physician ever released a report on Trump’s condition or treatment. He has repeatedly said a bullet hit his ear. The FBI has been investigating the incident, and FBI Director Chris Wray told the House Judiciary Committee on July 24 that “there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear.” The FBI later said in a July 26 statement, “What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle.”

Ryan Melton is the Democratic nominee in Iowa’s fourth Congressional district. These are his prepared remarks for the Iowa Democratic Party’s Liberty and Justice Celebration in Des Moines on July 27. You can listen to the speech as delivered here.

At the Mills County Fair Democratic party booth in Malvern a couple Saturdays ago, a high school freshman to be asked me what motivates me to keep going despite the odds in our district, so he too could buy in and join the effort.

Here’s what I told him:

Bonnie Ewoldt is a writer with two parcels of land targeted for eminent domain by Summit Carbon Solutions on its original pipeline route in Crawford County, Iowa. 

Last month, Summit Carbon Solutions received a conditional permit from the Iowa Utilities Commission to construct a 680-mile CO2 pipeline across Iowa. The proposed pipeline, named the Midwest Carbon Express, will carry pressurized CO2 from ethanol plants across five Midwestern states to North Dakota, where Summit has said it will be permanently sequestered underground. The investment company will then earn billions of dollars annually in 45Q carbon tax credits.

Summit Carbon recently filed additional applications with the Iowa Utilities Commission to bring sixteen ethanol plants from the now-defunct Navigator CO2 pipeline onto the Summit trunkline with lateral routes.

This past week, Summit Carbon informed Iowa landowners on the lateral lines that their property is on the route of a proposed CO2 pipeline. The third paragraph of the letter (enclosed in full below) uses the term “eminent domain” six times and the word “condemnation” twice, which could suggest these actions are imminent. They are not.

Sue Dinsdale is the executive director of Iowa Citizen Action Network and leads the Health Care For America and Lower Drug Prices NOW campaigns in Iowa.

The most popular health care program in America turns 59 this year. Over 65 million seniors and people with disabilities depend on Medicare for their health coverage. That number will only increase over the next decade as a record number of people turn 65, qualify for the program, and enroll in a health plan that provides everything from routine prevention to acute care for serious illnesses like cancer. 

Prescription drug coverage is a vital part of Medicare coverage: nearly nine in ten (89 percent) of adults 65 and older report they are currently taking any prescription medicine. That is the highest utilization rate of any age group.

Bernie Scolaro is a retired school counselor, a past president of the Sioux City Education Association, and former Sioux City school board member.

Many on the political right have compared former President Donald Trump to Jesus. Trump often portrays himself as the victim, sacrificing himself and being persecuted by those in power. 

Others have noted that Trump is one of the least religious people to occupy the White House, based on his lack of knowledge about Scripture, and how he used the Bible and the church as a prop during his presidency. His rhetoric, policies, and views fuel division, violence, and hate. As a former Catholic school student, I find his attitude and behavior in direct opposition to Christ’s teachings. 

The Beatitudes is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. I have compiled some illustrative Trump quotes to contrast Jesus and the Republican nominee for president.

Top Iowa Republicans complained this week that Democratic voters were “disenfranchised” by President Joe Biden’s decision to step aside as his party’s nominee.

Days earlier, they had celebrated the nomination of Donald Trump, who tried to nullify millions of Americans’ votes after losing the 2020 presidential election.

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com. 

For the past couple of years, Republicans often accused President Joe Biden of dodging the media—refusing to sit for extended interviews, declining to be questioned in regular White House press conferences, depriving the public of the opportunity to see how he thinks on his feet and articulates his views.

Critics accused Biden and his staff of avoiding unscripted events because they knew he was not mentally agile enough to keep up with the demands pointed questions bring. The president’s supporters brushed aside those assertions—although Biden’s performance during the recent debate against Donald Trump confirmed their worst anxieties.

I am not here to re-plow that political ground. Instead, I wonder why other political leaders much younger than the 81-year-old president are so reluctant to stand in front of their constituents, and journalists, and answer questions on a variety of topics.

Jason Benell lives in Des Moines with his wife and two children. He is a combat veteran, former city council candidate, and president of Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers.

Many are concerned about the direction the Des Moines City Council is taking, particularly concerning the homeless population—some of our least fortunate neighbors and fellow citizens. This approach lays bare the apparent goal of the sitting councilors who support this policy: they do not believe unhoused folks deserve the same level of respect and dignity as other citizens. They are willing to cast them outside of the Des Moines city limits, if not completely outside of our society.

The proposed ordinance, to be considered at a July 22 meeting, flows from a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that in effect allows local governments to criminalize homelessness. In the case known as Grants Pass v Johnson, six conservative justices held that enforcing criminal laws against sleeping in public does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Strange that a city council consisting entirely of registered Democrats is eager to oust their most vulnerable constituents as soon as a Republican decision is handed down.

Tim Nelson is a Des Moines-based campaign staffer.

The Des Moines City Council will hold an emergency meeting on July 22 to decide whether or not to criminalize homelessness in the city.

The ordinance would allow the city to fine homeless people for sleeping in public spaces and would allow the city to get rid of what little property these people have faster.

As someone who has experienced homelessness, I find this ordinance cruel and ineffective.

Henry Jay Karp is the Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Emanuel in Davenport, Iowa, which he served from 1985 to 2017. He is the co-founder and co-convener of One Human Family QCA, a social justice organization.

I live in the Quad Cities, which unite the states of Iowa and Illinois across the Mississippi River. It always has been a point of community pride that we are the home of the international headquarters of John Deere & Company, the major producer of farm equipment.

Since long before my family relocated to this community, it also has been a point of communal pride that Deere was a model of positive, active corporate citizenship.

Upon reading the Quad-City Times article titled “Deere rolls back diversity, equity, inclusion initiatives after conservative backlash,” it has become clear to me, in the words of Bob Dylan, that “The Times They Are A’Changin’.”

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com  

Changes in youth sports since the 1970s seem as dramatic as Iowa’s weather this summer. Those changes raise questions about whether sports are an extracurricular activity or should be the main focus for some kids.

In the 1970s, school sports were the only game in town. There were no club traveling teams or private sports academies. To get ready for organized sports, you learned through pickup games at the basketball court or on a dusty diamond playing workup. Not a referee or umpire in sight. You learned from older friends, patient enough to teach. The rules were flexible and unwritten.

Rick Morain is the former publisher and owner of the Jefferson Herald, for which he writes a regular column.

You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em,
Know when to fold ‘em,
Know when to walk away,
And know when to run.
Kenny Rogers, “The Gambler”

“The Gambler” should be the current theme song of President Joe Biden’s campaign. “Know when to walk away, and know when to run”: that’s it in a nutshell, after Biden’s halting debate performance with Donald Trump three weeks ago and a few word gaffes at his public press conference on July 11.

Michaelyn Mankel is an Iowa Organizer with Food & Water Action, the political and lobbying arm of the national environmental group Food & Water Watch. She is based in Des Moines.

Last month, the Iowa Utilities Board (renamed the Iowa Utilities Commission as of July 1) approved Summit Carbon Solutions’ permit application for a carbon pipeline. If built, their project would be the largest carbon pipeline in the world, crossing more than 2,000 miles across five states, including nearly 700 miles in Iowa.

The board issued its order as much of the pipeline’s Iowa route was underwater. Extreme flooding displaced hundreds of people, many of whom are under threat of eminent domain land-takings for the project. As Iowans return to their homes and the pipeline approval sinks in, one thing is clear: the fight to keep carbon pipelines out of this state is far from over.

Wally Taylor is the Legal Chair of the Sierra Club Iowa chapter.

In late June, six conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices overruled the Chevron doctrine in a case called Loper Bright v. Raimondo. The 40-year-old Chevron precedent had required courts to give deference to an administrative agency’s interpretation of the laws it administers and enforces.

This may sound like an issue only a lawyer would care about. But it has major implications for how government functions.

What should have been an ordinary presidential campaign rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania turned into a horrifying scene on July 13. A man shot at Donald Trump from a nearby rooftop, killing one person and wounding several others, including the former president.

Iowa political leaders reacted quickly to the assassination attempt, and their comments reflected several distinct themes.

Steve Corbin is emeritus professor of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa and a freelance writer who receives no remuneration, funding, or endorsement from any for-profit business, nonprofit organization, political action committee, or political party. 

Psychological scientists who study human behavior concur that past actions are the best predictor of future behavior. If past actions caused no problem, then all is well. If, however, a person demonstrated poor behavior in the past, well, buckle up. The odds are very great the person will continue to perform poorly if given the chance.

Donald Trump’s past behavior on national defense indicates that if the 45th president becomes the 47th president, we’re in a heap of trouble. Americans must seriously examine Trump’s past national security endeavors before voting on November 5.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com  

We’ve all heard these old adages. “You can’t force a round peg into a square hole.” “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”

There are a lot of other things we shouldn’t try to force. We can’t force someone to think we’re handsome, beautiful, witty, or charming. We can’t force our kids to date or marry the one we choose, and we can’t force a sushi hater to love eating sushi.

In the U.S., we can’t force someone to believe in one brand of religion or any religion at all just because that’s what the majority believes or that’s what politicians think would make them more popular.

But It’s happening.

Nancy Dugan lives in Altoona, Iowa. Disclosure: Dugan has filed several objections into the Summit Carbon Iowa Utilities Board (since renamed Iowa Utilities Commission) dockets in opposition to the CO2 pipeline. She has neither sought nor received funding for her work. This is an opinion piece.

During a February 7 interview, North Dakota radio host Scott Hennen asked Bruce Rastetter to answer the following question posed by a listener: Can the carbon in CO2 be separated and just store the carbon?

A portion of Rastetter’s answer is transcribed below (emphasis added):

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com. 

Do you remember that phrase our nation’s founders wrote in the preamble to the Constitution 237 years ago? The one about forming a more perfect union?

We have hit some speed bumps in that quest, a couple that would rattle your teeth. I wonder when, and how, or if, we are going to get back on the road.

Consider these potholes our nation has banged into recently:

Bernie Scolaro is a retired school counselor, a past president of the Sioux City Education Association, and former Sioux City school board member.

My father is 95 years old, but you would never guess his age by watching him or talking to him. Unlike President Joe Biden. He shows his age, and like all presidents, has been aged by the job.

In the president’s recent CNN debate against Donald Trump, Biden shuffled to the stage like the elderly man he is. He often stumbled for a loss of words as he tried to recall accurate, real facts and statistics. 

I could relate; in school, having to memorize dates in history or speeches for English class, it wasn’t easy. Words did not always flow—and I wasn’t on national TV at the time. I wasn’t 81 years old. I didn’t have a lifelong stutter. I wasn’t debating for the soul of democracy. And I wasn’t debating against someone who doesn’t know how to engage in civil discourse.

Jason Benell lives in Des Moines with his wife and two children. He is a combat veteran, former city council candidate, and president of Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers.

For many, the current political climate seems to have taken a distinct turn. The media has been ablaze with U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning the rights of kings—I mean presidents—in regard to the rule of law, as well as sweeping changes to how policy can be interpreted by different branches. The high court has also determined that prosecuting people for being homeless is not “cruel and unusual.”

Closer to home, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that people with uteruses are not full citizens, and after six weeks of pregnancy no longer have the same rights that non-uterus-having folks still maintain to control their own bodies.

This may seem like an onslaught of bad news, or at least noteworthy and worth paying some attention to. For the first time, many are becoming a bit more carefully tuned-in to the goings on and the headlines now that democracy and basic human rights are at a serious risk of being eroded away. Yes, democracy is under threat and yes we should all be paying attention.

However, for those of us who are tuned in to what the political Right has wanted since its existence as a pro-monarchist political realm, it is so clearly not new, it was a long time coming, and it is genuinely and utterly at the feet of the Republican Party and those who support them.  

Neal Schuster is the rabbi of Temple B’nai Jeshurun in Des Moines. This essay is the prepared version of remarks he delivered at a Shabbat service on June 28.

Well, let’s see – what’s in the news? What’s in the news?

Hmm, let’s see. Oh, there was an anti-Jewish pogrom outside of a synagogue in LA, with police in riot gear standing idly by for an hour while Jews were being blocked from shul, pepper-sprayed, and attacked in various ways.

Al Charlson is a North Central Iowa farm kid, lifelong Iowan, and retired bank trust officer. The Waverly newspaper group previously published a version of this commentary.

Based on the standard measures I learned to watch over 30 years as a trust officer, the U.S. economy is in good condition. We have completed seven straight quarters of real GDP growth. Corporate profits after taxes in the first quarter or 2024 were 6.4 percent higher than a year earlier. Monthly job growth remains strong, and unemployment has been 4 percent or lower every month since January 2022. 

In this economic environment, investment markets are favorable. Stock market indices are at or near record levels. Long-term bond yields have returned to rational levels, and certificate of deposit interest rates are the highest in years. My wife’s and my personal finances are also in good condition.

Herb Strentz was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000.

Two comments should continue to haunt us with regard to the 2024 election and the fate of democracy. Donald Trump memorably said while campaigning in Iowa in 2015: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn’t lose any voters, okay?”

And from then CBS executive chair and CEO Les Moonves, in assessing Trump’s 2016 campaign and TV coverage and revenues: “It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.” 

In that vein we may opt for presidential candidates grappling with one another in a cage match, instead of grappling with the issues.

“If the government controls our reproductive rights, we are not free,” the ACLU of Iowa posted on social media July 4. The sobering message was a reminder that on this Independence Day, the hard work is just beginning.

Iowans who can get pregnant will soon be less free than at any time since I was three years old.

There is no simple path to restoring reproductive freedom in Iowa. Unlike many other state constitutions, our founding document provides no way for citizens to force a statewide vote on whether abortion should be legal.

Even so, Iowans can take concrete steps to help those who will have no legal option to terminate a pregnancy here, once the state is able to enforce a near-total abortion ban (sometime after July 19).

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com 

Two summers ago, I thought I was having a stroke. I saw fireworks in my eyes when none were in the sky. No matter how I blinked, the world looked like it was wearing a fuzzy fur coat. Night driving was still possible, but tortuous.

Like many men, I thought it might go away. So, I used my vast medical knowledge and diagnosed myself.

I was wrong. 

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com. 

Through the years, Iowa Supreme Court justices typically avoid harsh or overzealous language in their decisions.

That is why two separate dissenting opinions jumped out on June 28, when the court issued its long-anticipated decision on the legislature’s latest attempt to ban nearly all abortions in Iowa.

Sami Scheetz represents Iowa House district 78, covering part of Cedar Rapids.

In a few short weeks, my wife and I will welcome a baby girl into our family. It’s the best feeling in the world. It’s also terrifying: as a father, I’m faced with the prospect that I’ll raise a daughter in a state where she has less freedom than her grandmother enjoyed.

Yet that’s exactly what an extreme, partisan majority on Iowa’s Supreme Court decided last week. Four unelected judges substituted their will for the will of the people of Iowa to let Governor Kim Reynolds’ and the Republican legislature’s near-total abortion ban take effect.

Like so many Iowans, I’m heartbroken, upset, and angry over the June 28 decision. I’ve heard from constituents who are wondering whether Iowa is the best place to raise their families—especially in light of Attorney General Brenna Bird’s recent appearance with extremists who vow to ban IVF treatments and contraception next, and her promise that “there is work left to be done” on this issue.

Writing under the handle “Bronxiniowa,” Ira Lacher, who actually hails from the Bronx, New York, is a longtime journalism, marketing, and public relations professional.

It’s all about image.

“Although we are admonished ‘don’t judge a book by its cover,’ we repeatedly defy that warning as we go about our daily lives responding to people on the basis of their facial appearance,” Dr. Leslie Zebrowitz of Brandeis University and Dr. Joann Montepare of Emerson University wrote in the psychology journal Social and Personality Compass.

“The concept of image management applies to anyone … who has ever wanted to get an idea across to someone else, to influence opinion or action … ” agrees Judith Rasband, founder of the Conselle Institute of Image Management in Orem, Utah. She adds, “[R]egardless of who you are, how old, and what your role or goal, ongoing image management can give you the personal/professional presence you need.”

Seldom in my lifetime has there been a presidential election that didn’t hinge on image. Jimmy Carter’s kindly, pastoral visage against an apparently clumsy Gerald Ford. Rugged, cheerful, upbeat, athletic Ronald Reagan against the hapless Carter, who couldn’t rescue Iran-held U.S. hostages. World War II combat aviator George H.W. Bush against wannabe-helmeted Mike Dukakis. Have-a-beer-with-me-pardner George W. Bush against Al “Gore the Bore.”

“Nothing promotes life like a forced hysterectomy preventing a woman from ever becoming pregnant again because she could not terminate a doomed pregnancy under the medical emergency exception,” wrote Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen near the end of her dissenting opinion in Planned Parenthood v Reynolds VI.

In that case, four Iowa Supreme Court justices ruled on June 28 that the state can enforce a near-total abortion ban (House File 732) while litigation proceeds in lower court. Reversing a Polk County District Court ruling, the majority determined the plaintiffs were not likely to succeed in showing the ban violates pregnant Iowans’ due process rights. The majority also declared that abortion restrictions are subject to “rational basis” review, which will make it far easier for the government to defend the law against the plaintiffs’ other constitutional claims.

Writing in dissent, the chief justice illuminated the suffering that will follow from this “giant step backward” for Iowa women. An equally remarkable opinion by Justice Edward Mansfield—the author of the 2022 decision that overturned Iowa’s abortion rights precedent—warned that the majority’s new approach to abortion cases “disserves the people of Iowa and their constitution.”

Henry Jay Karp is the Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Emanuel in Davenport, Iowa, which he served from 1985 to 2017. He is the co-founder and co-convener of One Human Family QCA, a social justice organization.

This week, I shared an article about U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks claiming in a televised interview that President Joe Biden would step onto to the debate stage, high on drugs to cover up his “cognitive decline.” I described her comments as “dirty politics scraping the bottom of the barrel,” and her efforts to curry favor with Dictator-for-a-day Donald as a sign of her own “moral & ethical decline.”

Well, after anguishing through Thursday night’s debate, I have to admit that Miller-Meeks had it partially right. It was obvious that Biden was on something when he stepped onto the debate stage: cold drugs. His hoarse, gravely voice, his obvious congestion, his partial brain fog gave ample testimony to every speaker’s and performer’s nightmare of falling ill and being medicated just before having to step on stage before an audience.

Even so, while Biden failed to deliver the knock-out punches that Trump deserved, he was able to counter the litany of outrageous lies with facts—feebly delivered, but facts nonetheless.

As disgusted as I was by Miller-Meeks’ defamatory attacks on the president the day before the debate, I was equally disgusted, if not more so, by the many commentators, journalists, and fellow Democrats who were so quick to throw Biden under the bus after the debate. Many floated or demanded his removal as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Charles Bruner served in the Iowa legislature from 1978 to 1990 and was founding director of the Child and Family Policy Center from 1989 through 2016. For the last six years, he headed a Health Equity and Young Children initiative focusing on primary child health care for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The movie came first (the live debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump), but I would also urge people to read the book—that is, the full CNN debate transcript.

This may do little to change the immediate impact of the presidential debate on polling and public impressions of the two candidates’ fitness, but it does tell a different story of what they said, and what they would do in office.

There was even a question about child care, as well as one about inflation, which spoke to the financial needs of American households struggling to balance their bread-winning and caregiving roles for themselves and their members.

Nate Willems served in the Iowa House from 2009 through 2012 and practices law with the Rush & Nicholson firm in Cedar Rapids. This essay previously appeared in The Prairie Progressive.

A single mom works as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) in a hospital. One night, she is assigned to give a shower to a patient who has dementia. As she starts to shower him, he growls. He calls her a Nazi. She tries to calm him. He calls her a Nazi again and louder. 

Without warning, he puts a hand on her throat and begins to squeeze; with his other hand, he seizes the showerhead and beats her in the face. The worker is pinned in and tries to scream. A nurse walks in. Instead of helping, she says, “I’ll go look for help.” The attack ends only when the dementia patient stands up and walks stark naked out into the hallway. 

In the ensuing months, the CNA attempts to return to work. She is watched closely. The employer reprimands her if she clocks in one minute late. The employer reprimands her for going to the bathroom too often. She is harassed by management until she has a breakdown.

John Kearney is a retired philosophy professor who taught at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has lived in Waterloo, Iowa for the past six years.

U. S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the conservative majority in the landmark 2022 Dobbs case (which overturned the Roe v. Wade precedent), concluded his opinion by saying:

“In my judgment, on the issue of abortion, the Constitution is nether pro-life nor pro-choice. The Constitution is neutral, and this Court must be scrupulously neutral. The Court today properly heeds the constitutional principle of judicial neutrality and returns the issue of abortion to the people and their elected representatives in the democratic process.”

The legal controversy over Iowa’s near-total abortion ban (House File 732) focuses on whether a “rational basis” or an “undue burden” review of abortion regulations should hold sway. (The Iowa Supreme Court will soon rule on the state’s appeal of a lower court injunction that has blocked the law’s enforcement.)

Rick Morain is the former publisher and owner of the Jefferson Herald, for which he writes a regular column.

Fifteen inches of rain in northwest Iowa. Unbelievable. We don’t have drenchers like that in this state. But we did.

Most of us remember well the eight, nine, or ten inches (depending on whom you talk to) that fell on Greene County back in 1993, which flowed down the mighty Raccoon River to devastate Des Moines. Last week’s total near the state’s northwest corner puts that event to shame. Some rivers reached record flood levels, causing damage never seen before in towns large and small. The Iowa Great Lakes and its surrounding communities shared in that damage.

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com. 

You know how some memories stick with you for no logical reason? One such memory involves my dad in the 1960s when I was a teenager.

After World War II, my father worked for the City of Bloomfield, eventually becoming operator of the city’s water treatment plant.

Pop graduated from high school on the eve of the Great Depression. His most intense period of book-learning after high school came in the 1960s when Iowa decided to require state licenses for operators of municipal water treatment plants and sewage treatment plants.

After so many years away from the classroom, this was a time of anxiety as Pop prepared for the licensing exam. He attended classes at night and had his nose in textbooks other evenings.

All of this happened about 60 years ago. More recently, a different and far larger contingent of Iowans has been experiencing anxiety over state regulations. This time, the anxious people are angry the government doesn’t address all major pollution problems the same way it approaches water treatment and sewage treatment facilities.

Dr. Emily Boevers is a OB-GYN physician practicing primarily in Waverly, Iowa. When not taking care of patients she enjoys spending time with her husband and three children. This piece was first published in the Waverly newspapers.

This coming week, the seven justices of the Iowa Supreme Court will issue a ruling in the misnamed “Fetal Heartbeat” ban. This legislation is the third iteration forced through the Iowa legislature in six years. It seeks to ban abortion at the instance of embryonic cardiac impulse at six weeks, well before most women know they are pregnant. The Supreme Court may allow the state to enforce the ban or leave the law blocked while litigation proceeds. Either way, a large portion of the electorate will be anguished, disappointed, or even angry.

I cannot say which way the justices will decide. So instead, I will paint a picture of two possible futures for my patients and for myself as a woman’s health physician (an obstetrician gynecologist). I care for women before, during and after pregnancy.

Charles Bruner served in the Iowa legislature from 1978 to 1990 and was founding director of the Child and Family Policy Center from 1989 through 2016. For the last six years, he headed a Health Equity and Young Children initiative focusing on primary child health care for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

A child tax credit, paid family leave, child care and preschool, and home and community services—President Joe Biden mentioned all of those in his plan for a caregiving, families, and children’s agenda, which he presented in an April 9 speech.

Melinda French Gates mentioned those policies in her guest commentary for CNN on June 20, explaining why she is supporting Biden and other women should do so, as well.

According to a recent KFF poll of American women, those issues could be key to educating and energizing women to be difference makers in the 2024 presidential election.

Kurt Meyer writes a weekly column for the Nora Springs – Rockford Register and the Substack newsletter Showing Up, where this essay first appeared. He serves as chair of the executive committee (the equivalent of board chair) of Americans for Democratic Action, America’s most experienced liberal organization.

Sometimes it’s called a code of ethics, sometimes a code of conduct. In my experience, any such code is necessary, primarily when someone is acting in a way that either is, or might be perceived, as being contrary to basic ethical norms. Yes, public perception matters. If your entity has never had need for such a code, you’re lucky; you may want to put some “guardrails” in place before you’ll wish you had.  

“Basic ethical norms” is a vague reference, with often difficult-to-agree-upon specifics. In most local governance situations—such as the nonprofit boards I’m most familiar with—such codes are dangerously rare. Occasionally, guidance comes from a national office, if one exists. For example, the American Bar Association (Model Rules of Professional Conduct) addresses attorneys and the American Medical Association (Code of Medical Ethics) does the same for physicians.