Democrat Sarah Corkery, running in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District, spoke at the Des Moines Register's Political Soapbox during the Iowa State Fair Aug. 13, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Sarah Corkery, the 2nd Congressional District Democratic candidate said Tuesday that women’s health care rights will be a crucial issue in the upcoming election — and that having a woman, Vice President Kamala Harris, at the top of the ticket will help Democrats win.
Corkery spoke about her commitment to defending legal abortion access at the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox. As a breast cancer survivor, she said she does not support government action to limit decisions that should be made by a patient and provider.
“I can’t imagine going to my doctor’s office and saying, ‘let’s discuss this treatment plan — wait a minute, we’ve got to check with the government,'” Corkery said. “It does not make sense. This is about power and control.”
The Iowa law banning most abortions as early as six weeks of gestation went into effect in late July. Corkery told the group gathered at the Iowa State Fair that supporters of abortion restrictions do not recognize that the decision to get an abortion is not “as cut and dry as people think,” and that most pregnant people who get abortions later in a pregnancy do so because of medical complications.
Iowa’s so-called “fetal heartbeat” state law bans abortions after cardiac activity is detectable in an embryo, with exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. Some medical experts say the parameters of the law’s life-saving exceptions are unclear, meaning doctors may be less likely to perform a medically necessary abortion due to concerns about breaking the law.
Corkery shared the stories of two Iowa women who had ectopic pregnancies, when a fertilized egg implanted and grew outside the uterus, who had to seek abortions because their pregnancies were not viable and put their lives at risk. The candidate also said that she has personal experience with the issue, as her son almost died at 38 weeks of gestation.
She pushed back against claims that people have late-term elective abortions.
“It’s a lie,” Corkery said. “That does not happen, that’s not legal. And that’s personal for me, my son almost died at 38 weeks inside the womb. We were both in distress, we both almost died.”
Corkery is running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who currently represents the district that encompasses much of northeast Iowa, including the cities of Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Waterloo. The Democratic challenger said she knows her campaign is an uphill battle — Corkery raised $98,166 to Hinson’s $719,581 in the most recent reporting period — but added that she believes Iowa’s 2nd District is a “flippable seat.”
Part of her optimism comes from the recent change to Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee, following President Joe Biden’s decision to exit the race. Corkery was one of multiple Democrats to call for Biden to leave the race after his performance in the June debate against former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.
Corkery said that while her statement calling for Biden to leave the race may have lost her some Democrats at the time, she hopes that she has “picked them back up” since the announcement. The 2nd District candidate said she believes Harris becoming the nominee has helped Democrats regain enthusiasm leading up to the Nov. 5 election.
“I think the down-ballot has gotten a lot more exciting and interesting, and I think we have more people joining our campaign every day, and the number of small-dollar donors and individuals showing up at headquarters tells for itself,” Corkery told reporters. “It’s going to bring a lot of excitement to this.”
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