Organizers to rally against cancer ‘Gag Act’

DES MOINES — Groups working to protect Iowa’s air and water are scheduled to rally at the State Capitol this afternoon, against a bill they say would protect pesticide companies from lawsuits if their products make people sick.

The so-called “Cancer Gag Act” provides defense from civil liability tied to the use of pesticides, as long as their labeling meets Environmental Protection Agency standards – which can be 15 years old.

Iowa Food and Water Watch Central Iowa Organizer Michaelyn Mankel says the measure would essentially change the law to protect pesticide companies from accountability, in a state that’s already seeing a “public health crisis.”  “We have rising cancer rates,” said Mankel. “We’re the only state in the nation where incidents of cancer are increasing, and we rank second in the nation for rates of cancer.”

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has said that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans,” but the EPA says there’s no evidence to support  that. Pesticide makers – including Bayer, which has four lobbyists in Iowa alone – have said they’re following current law and need protection from what they deem frivolous lawsuits, and this bill would provide that, but Mankel says the measure would further erode Iowans’ ability to take legal action if they think these products caused health problems.  “This is not a matter of stopping frivolous lawsuits,” said Mankel. “It’s a matter of not robbing Iowans of the only avenue we have to hold the pesticide industry accountable at a time where we’re really suffering.”

The rally at the Capitol will begin with an altar ceremony to memorialize Iowans who have died from cancer, many of whom advocates say were deaths related to pesticides.