Primary Race in Iowa’s 2nd District Heats Up over Abortion

The Republican primary race in Iowa’s second congressional district is heating up after a video of State Sen. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Ottumwa) emerged recently in which she identified herself as “pro-choice.”

Her campaign says that she misspoke, according to the Des Moines Register. (The Miller-Meeks campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Breitbart News.)

In the video, it is difficult to tell whether Miller-Meeks misspoke at first: “”I’m also Catholic. I am pro-choice, but it’s a very sensitive issue,” she says.

Later, she adds: “Ultimately, as a doctor, and a health care provider, I think these are decisions that are best left to providers, to doctors, and to patients. I don’t want the government in my health care decisions.” Those are views typically associated with a pro-choice position on abortion.

Miller-Meeks, who served in the U.S. Army and is also a medical doctor, has a pro-life voting record in the Iowa legislature, according to the Des Moines Register.

However, her opponent, former Rep. Bobby Schilling, disputes her commitment to the pro-life cause. He told Breitbart News: “To claim that she ‘misspoke’ for two full minutes is incredibly insulting to voters. She was crystal clear — she’s Catholic and pro-choice and she doesn’t think government should be involved in protecting unborn children. I have faith in Iowa voters that they will see through her fourth attempt to fool them.”

Schilling was referring to the fact that Miller-Meeks has run for the 2nd district seat several times before, losing to Democrat incumbent Dave Loebsack, who announced his retirement last April.

Schilling served one term in Congress as a U.S. representative from Illinois, after winning in the Tea Party wave of 2010. He moved to Iowa in 2017 because of higher taxes in Illinois, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

The primary will be held on June 2. It will not involve presidential candidates; the presidential caucuses was held in February.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.