By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

A hearing at the Iowa Capitol today on a bill that would have banned abortions in Iowa has been cancelled.

Twenty-four Republicans in the Iowa House co-sponsored the bill that would have made it a crime for Iowa doctors to perform abortions. Republican Representative Jon Dunwell, a pastor from Newton, was the bill’s lead sponsor. “It was not the right time to take this on,” Dunwell said. “There are a couple of things that have to be worked through and so rather than going through this whole process, knowing we were going to hit some roadblocks, I’d rather focus some other life initiatives this year.”

Dunwell, who is not seeking reelection, said he is disappointed, but “the reality is” there were not 51 “yes” votes from Republicans to pass the bill in the House.

“You’re always trying to figure out where you’re going to allocate your resources where you can actually get something done and so just kind of been a calculation, looking at everything that’s going on, kind of figured: ‘O.K., let’s put all of our eggs in one basket with the black market abortion pill,” Dunwell said. “I know we can get that across the line.”

That bill would make it illegal for out-of-state doctors to send abortion medication to Iowa women through the mail. If the bill becomes law, woman seeking medication-induced abortions would have to have an in-person visit with a doctor and doctors who dispense abortion pills outside of a health care setting could be sued.

There’s a deadline this Friday for policy bills to clear a committee in the House or Senate, or be sidelined for the year.