Christina Bohannan, Mariannette Miller-Meeks spar on abortion, agree on Israel-Hamas war

In a televised debate Monday night, Iowa's 1st Congressional District candidates sparred over abortion restrictions but found some agreement on Israel's right to defend itself in the wake of last year's attack by Hamas militants.

Democrat Christina Bohannan and incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks are once again facing off after Bohannan failed to unseat Miller-Meeks in 2022. Miller-Meeks narrowly eked out a victory in 2020, winning by six votes against Democrat Rita Hart, then beat Bohannan two years later by nearly 7 percentage points.

The 1st District encompasses 20 counties, including the cities of Davenport, Iowa City, Burlington and rural southeast Iowa.

More: Where Miller-Meeks, Bohannan stand on key issues, from abortion to the border to inflation

Democratic and Republican groups have poured millions of dollars into the matchup whose outcome will help decide which party controls Congress. Nonpartisan elections analysts with the Cook Political Report recently moved the 1st District from "lean Republican" into its most competitive "toss-up" category.

The September Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found that likely voters in Iowa's 1st District prefer a Democratic candidate for Congress over a Republican candidate 49% to 46%. Likely Iowa voters prefer a Republican over a Democrat in every other district.

Candidates spar over abortion law

Abortion has been a key issue in Democrats' campaigns up and down the ballot in the first presidential election since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. The issue has been particularly salient in Iowa, where it's the first election since the Iowa Supreme Court allowed the state's six-week abortion ban to take effect.

Bohannan has looked to tie Miller-Meeks to Iowa's Republican-backed ban, which took effect in July, in her bid to unseat the incumbent.

In vowing to restore Roe v. Wade and make it federal law, Bohannan said she would support “going back to the law that we had in Iowa back before all of this started.” Before the six-week ban took effect, Iowa law allowed abortions until 20 weeks of pregnancy. Bohannan said she was comfortable with that law.

While Miller-Meeks is a former Iowa state senator, she was not serving in the Iowa Legislature when GOP lawmakers passed the six-week ban last year, nor was she a senator in 2018 when lawmakers passed a similar ban. Miller-Meeks did not take office until 2019.

However, she did vote for anti-abortion legislation, including a constitutional amendment that would have said the Iowa Constitution does not protect abortion rights. She has voiced approval of court rulings overturning abortion rights, including the Dobbs ruling.

Miller-Meeks co-sponsored the 2021-22 Life At Conception Act that states life begins at fertilization. It effectively bans all abortions without exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother. It also does not outline protections for fertility treatments.

She did not sign onto the resolution in the current Congress. Miller-Meeks has said she supports a national 15-week ban on abortion with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.

Miller-Meeks echoed GOP claims about Democrats supporting late-term abortions and said, "Can't we all agree on that there shouldn't be abortion up until the time of birth?"

Late-in-pregnancy abortions are defined as those that take place at or after 21 weeks of pregnancy. A full term is 39 to 40 weeks.

Less than 1% of all abortions occur at this stage of pregnancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found using 2021 data. More than 80% occur at or before nine weeks of pregnancy.

Six percent occur between 14 and 20 weeks of pregnancy, during the second trimester. They are typically done at this stage because of fetal anomalies or maternal health risks.

Miller-Meeks was asked what was the difference between exceptions for abortion for the life or health of the mother. She said she does not see a distinction, but Bohannan insisted there was a legal distinction between the two.

"We know for a fact that when it says … when the exception is only for life of the mother, that women have to be very near dying before a doctor will feel comfortable performing that procedure, or else they risk either loss of their license or prosecution or something" because of the way abortion laws are written, Bohannan said.

Asked for a response after the debate, Miller-Meeks told reporters that families could sue for medical malpractice if a patient is improperly treated.

She said she did not "want any person not to be able to be able to redress malpractice or negligence because one political party wants to use this as a wedge political issue." Plus, she said states could modify laws they set under the Dobbs decision.

Bohannan praises bipartisan border deal, Miller-Meeks touts immigration record

Bohannan said she supports both creating pathways to citizenship and securing the border.

“President (Joe) Biden was too slow to act on on the border," Bohannan said. "However, having said that, Congress under our Constitution bears the brunt of the responsibility on immigration policy, and what we have seen is that both parties for a long time in Congress talked a lot about needing to secure the border and did nothing about it, kept kicking that can down the road."

Bohannan said there was a "golden opportunity" to pass a bipartisan border and immigration deal that the White House negotiated earlier this year with Senate GOP leaders. Senate Republicans and six Democrats blocked the bill from advancing, and it never reached the House for consideration. The proposal would have provided resources for thousands more immigration and border officials.

She said Republicans killed the bipartisan border deal “because they wanted to keep playing politics with it. They wanted to keep campaigning with this issue.”

Miller-Meeks pointed to H.R. 2, the "Secure the Border Act of 2023," which passed the GOP-controlled House but said it is "languishing" in the Senate, where it has not received a vote.

"This is the top issue for voters and people, they don't feel safe," Miller-Meeks said. "They don't feel safe in their community."

She accused Bohannan of bringing up immigration now because it has become a "political liability for you."

Both support Israel's right to self-defense

Both candidates agreed that Israel has a right to defend itself as the Israel-Hamas war carries on with efforts faltering to bring an end to the yearlong conflict.

Hamas militants' surprise invasion on Oct. 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 Israelis and 46 Americans when the militants crashed through the Israeli border along the Gaza Strip. It spurred an ongoing conflict that political leaders fear will fuel a wider war in the Middle East. Israel has said 97 hostages abducted on the day of the attack remain unaccounted for.

Miller-Meeks has been critical of Bohannan's lack of response to protests, mainly on the University of Iowa campus, over the Israel-Hamas war.

Candidates were asked if they support conditions on aid to Israel given the civilian casualties.

“… It certainly is a tragedy. No one wants to see innocent women and children harmed. But Hamas did attack an unprecedented, unprovoked way, Israel on Oct. 7," Miller-Meeks said.

Still, she said, "Israel has the right to defend itself. They have a right to be to have a state and defend its citizens against the myriad of rocket attacks..."

Bohannan said the suffering in Gaza with more than 40,000 people dead, mostly women and children, was "heartbreaking."

“Israel does have a responsibility under international law to avoid as much harm to civilians as possible to allow humanitarian and aid workers," Bohannan said.

But as Iran has recently bombarded Israel with missiles, Bohannan told reporters after the debate it's important that Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and "make sure that Iran never gets nuclear weapons."

Asked if there were specific actions she'd support to address the civilian casualties in Gaza, she said she hoped the recent death of Hamas leader Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar would present "an opportunity for both sides to come back to the table and negotiate in good faith for release of those hostages and for an end to the violence."

Iowa Press moderator Kay Henderson moderated the debate with Des Moines Register statehouse reporter Stephen Gruber-Miller and Dave Price, Iowa political director for Gray Television.

Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @marissajpayne. 

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Christina Bohannan, Mariannette Miller-Meeks trade jabs on abortion