On a recent, cool October night, Catherine Pollard went door-to-door in Johnston, a Des Moines suburb, trying to rally support for two local Democrats who support abortion rights and are running for the Iowa Legislature in competitive districts.
Pollard, an intern with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa's Political Action Committee, was armed with a pink clipboard and a list of registered Democrats who haven’t voted consistently.
She ran into Cindy Hickman in her driveway before she could even reach her door. Hickman’s husband, David, was on her list.
After Hickman quickly reassured Pollard that David will be voting Democratic in this election, Pollard asked one final question: Is there any issue this election that she's passionate about?
Hickman first said she’s concerned about some education policies in the state before quickly launching into abortion.
"A woman's right to her own body. We have five grandkids. Some of those pregnancies haven't been easy. I really would resent the idea that I have to call the governor to find out how my daughter should have medical care," she said.
'A consistently winning issue for Democratic candidates'
Abortion is on the forefront of many Iowans’ minds following a state Supreme Court ruling this summer that allowed a controversial law banning the procedure when cardiac activity is detected to go into effect. This can be as early as six weeks of pregnancy, which is before many people know they're pregnant. The law does include exceptions for rape, incest, life of the pregnant person and fetal abnormalities.
Recent polling shows a majority of Iowans disapprove of the new law.
A Midwest Newsroom poll this month found 55.7% of Iowans said the law was "too strict," while an Iowa Poll last month found 59% of Iowans "disapprove" of the new restrictions.
Abortion has long been a strong issue for Democrats with the electorate, said Chris Larimer, a professor of political science at the University of Northern Iowa.
This is an issue that is a consistently winning issue for Democratic candidates in terms of polling.Chris Larimer, political science professor at UNI
"This is an issue that is a consistently winning issue for Democratic candidates in terms of polling," he said. "And so I think...they're going to continue to talk about it."
This election stands out because it's the first presidential election since the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which ended the constitutional right to abortion across the country, and an Iowa Supreme Court decision that lowered protections for abortion in the state constitution. Both decisions came out in June 2022.
These rulings paved the way for an Iowa Supreme Court decision this summer allowing the state's "fetal heartbeat" law to go into effect in July.
While Republicans have long supported highly restricting the procedure, many of the laws they passed with this intention were blocked by legal challenges prior to the Dobbs decision.
"They weren't able to put any policies into place, right? So then it would sort of fall away," Larimer said. "Now, suddenly they had the freedom to put policies into place, and they did, and those policies run against public opinion."
Because of this, Democratic candidates are leaning hard on reproductive rights this election cycle to attack their Republican opponents, he said.
Republicans push back
Recent ads from candidates like Christina Bohannan and Lanon Baccam, who are running in Iowa's competitive 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts blame Republican incumbents Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Rep. Zach Nunn for Iowa having "one of the strictest abortion bans in the country" and claim "a woman's reproductive rights are under attack."
The issue has put Iowa Republicans on the defense.
Republicans like Miller-Meeks and Nunn have accused their opponents of misleading voters about things like their positions on abortion and IVF. They say Democrats support little to no abortion restrictions, which they call “too extreme.”
Republican candidates are in a tough position because they know a majority of Iowans don’t support the state’s abortion restrictions, Larimer said.
"It's more to the forefront, I think, this election cycle, in terms of clarifying their positions, but not wanting to lose voters or turn away voters. Because it's clear that this is a mobilizing issue for many voters," he said.
Republicans like U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for re-election in Iowa’s 2nd District, have had to carefully clarify where they stand.
I think the most important thing is working with my colleagues to support a culture of life in Washington D.C.Rep. Ashley Hinson
During a debate on Iowa PBS this month, Hinson said she would only support a national abortion ban if it included exceptions for rape, incest, life and health of the mother or fetal abnormalities.
She ultimately backpedaled on her support for the Life at Conception Act, which she co-sponsored earlier this year, when pressed by debate moderator Brianne Pfannenstiel of the Des Moines Register. If enacted, the bill would ban the procedure without exceptions.
Hinson said her support for the legislation was about "valuing life."
"I think the most important thing is working with my colleagues to support a culture of life in Washington, D.C.," she said.
Whether abortion drives more voters to the polls this year is yet to be seen, but some studies suggest the issue helped Democrats in the 2022 midterms.
Mazie Stilwell, the director of public affairs at Planned Parenthood North Central States, said she thinks Iowa's new abortion law will motivate Iowans who support abortion rights to vote.
"I've seen that in people who are just at their wit's end and who recognize that we have to create political change. As much as they may view themselves as apolitical or not liking politics, the harsh reality is that politics likes us," she said.
For those who want current abortion laws in Iowa to change, all that’s left is the ballot box, Stilwell said.