Can Chemical Abortions be Linked to Midwestern Agriculture?
Driving across a rural Iowa highway, anti-abortion signs are almost as common a sight as farmers spraying crops. Now there is a growing body of evidence linking the substances sprayed on fields to human reproductive health issues, including unintended abortions. “Abortion means more than just a woman entering a clinic and willfully terminating a pregnancy,” said Sandra Steingraber, an ecologist and author invited to speak at the University of Northern Iowa tonight. “It also refers to chemicals we are using in farming. If farming communities – where we know that pro-life sentiments run strong – are contributing to fetal death, then that is a disconnect that we need to examine closely.” Steingraber, an internationally recognized expert on the links between environment and human health, believes society has a moral obligation to move toward chemical-free, organic farming. She plans to outline the reasons for that in detail during her visit at UNI, but agreed to speak with Iowa Independent
