Democratic, independent challengers for Hinson’s US House seat discuss abortion (AUDIO)

Click on the audio player below to listen to the state and federal candidate portion of the League of Women Voters

 

MASON CITY — The League of Women Voters of North Iowa also invited candidates for the Iowa Senate District 30 and Iowa House District 59 seat, as well as Second District congressional seat to their forum last night, but none of the Republican candidates showed up.

Democrat Sarah Corkery of Cedar Falls and independent Jody Puffett of Delhi are challenging Republican incumbent Ashley Hinson of Marion for the northeast Iowa-based US House seat. Corkery and Puffett were asked about their views on abortion.

Corkery ripped Hinson’s stance on the issue.   “She says she’s fine with the exceptions, she says it every time you ask her, but she has signed the Life at Conception bill. She has her name attached to that bill. What that belief is life starts at conception. She can believe that all she wants, just don’t stand between me and my doctor with your beliefs. She also signed the Republican study committee. That also said she wanted a national abortion ban with no exceptions. That is what she really did. She’s telling lies when she says she’s fine with the exceptions because her actions speak louder than her words.”

Puffett says she supports a woman making a choice, but is against late-term abortions.  “There are states right now that allow abortions all the way up to the point of the birth. I think six weeks, I agree six weeks is too early. I wholeheartedly agree with that, but 40 weeks is barbaric, and as an American country, this is a moral issue for me. This is not a religious issue, this is not a political issue. Again, I just find it barbaric that we would terminate a baby that late in a pregnancy.”

Also appearing in the second half of the candidate forum were: Mason City Democrat Rich Lorence, who is running for the Senate District 30 seat which includes all of Cerro Gordo, Worth and Mitchell counties and the northwestern corner of Floyd County; and Mason City Democrat Jeremy True, who is running for the Iowa House District 59 seat that includes Mason City and the eastern two-thirds of Cerro Gordo County.