Iowa advocates fight national ‘Cancer Gag Act’

DES MOINES — Iowa advocates for healthy farming practices are pushing back on a federal move to give pesticide companies immunity from products that may cause cancer.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement sent a letter signed by more than 400 Iowans to Washington lawmakers, calling on them to oppose the so-called “Cancer Gag Act,” which would allow makers of glyphosate-based chemicals to sidestep immunity if it is determined that they cause cancer.

ICCI’s farm and environment organizing director Ava Auen-Ryan calls this a common sense issue. She says the fact that this is even a debate leaves Iowans wondering who lawmakers are actually representing. “So, are they working for, you know, Iowans and their constituents, or are they working for multinational chemical manufacturers like Bayer?”

The Environmental Protection Agency says glyphosate poses no risks to human health when used in accordance with its current label. Similar to the Iowa bill that was defeated, federal legislation would bar people from taking legal action if they get sick from glyphosate. Auen-Ryan says if there is even a chance that ag chemicals could cause cancer or other illnesses, Iowans should have a right to take legal action. “And it’s very clear that Iowans want to preserve that right to pursue a lawsuit, and that decision about whether or not a case has merit should be left up to judges, not a blanket statement made by elected officials to take away that right.”

Following a grassroots organizing campaign, Iowa lawmakers defeated a state-level version of the “Cancer Gag Act” this year.