Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, signed a slate of bills into law May 19, including two measures that supporters say strengthen medical conscience protections for health care workers and expand safeguards to protect student speech and religious liberty in education.
The bills include H.F. 571, known as the Medical Ethics Defense Act, and S.F. 2231, a broader education measure that addresses student expression, state education policy, and eligibility for certain education programs.
The Medical Ethics Defense Act allows doctors to refuse care based on moral, ethical, or religious objections. The law includes exceptions for emergency situations and aims to uphold the principle of “do no harm” without government penalty.
S.F. 2231 modifies provisions related to students’ protected speech and expression rights. According to an Alliance Defending Freedom press release, the measure protects public school students’ ability to express religious, political, or ideological viewpoints and removes provisions that had barred religious organizations or individuals from accessing publicly available benefits solely due to their faith.
ADF Senior Counsel Matt Sharp, director of the ADF Center for Public Policy, praised the two measures as protecting what he described as core constitutional freedoms: “the rights to speak freely, exercise your religion, and live consistent with your conscience without fear of government punishment.”
Sharp said in the release that the Medical Ethics Defense Act prevents doctors from being forced to violate their beliefs, while S.F. 2231 repeals what he called discriminatory provisions in state law.
“S.F. 2231 ensures that Iowa’s public-school students are inspired, challenged, and encouraged to freely express their beliefs at school,” he said, “protecting their voice and viewpoints from being silenced.”
He added, “Censorship and religious bigotry have no place in our laws.”