I’m sure they could find something. Motivated reasoning is a hell of a drug.
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JFC, is IA so backwards they have no sewer treatment plants? Do they have water treatment plants, or does everyone in IA have wells that aren’t monitored?
Why is science, public health, and engineering so f*cking hard for Republicants?
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Has Iowa a larger number of spontaneous abortions than any other state? I doubt it. Prove that the water is causing abortions with stats.
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and since Iowa is majority Republican, that would mean these waters teeming with abortifacants are being flushed there by Republican females
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Make up lies about immigrant crimes.
Make up lies about ‘great replacement’.
Make up lies about Christians being persecuted.
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The seepage from fecal ponds (massive plastic lined resevoirs of urine/fesces/blood) would overwhelm any standard sewage treatment plant. It’s been an issue in factory farm areas since the 60s.
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Which is animal medications and not human.
When my paternal grandparents moved out from St Louis City to this suburb in the county they were on septic system with a leaching field. They were a bit pissed that the houses to the East of them were on the sewer line. But within a year or two there was subdivision going in to the West of their house and all the houses were on the sewer line.
But getting back to this guy-people used to flush their expired medications down toilet. That became a problem with trying to clean the water at sewer treatment plants. And in some areas they have events where one can drop off expired medications.
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I have never been to Iowa. Can I speak? I have 3 daughters and 4 granddaughters. Two of them are IVF. Is that enough? Wait for spring.
While the “Abortion In Our Water” report is focused on mifepristone and human remains from pregnancies, it consistently cited general research and concerns about sewer blockages and all manner of pharmaceuticals in the water supply.
I don’t think this is just about Abortion. I think it’s a stalking horse to ban contraception. Elevated levels of estrogen in wastewater discharge is a known water quality issue. They’re starting here and if they can ban Mifepristone along tge way, great, but they are not stopping until they ban the pill, which they gave long claimed causes abortions, so “chemical abortions” absolutely includes use of the pill in the right-wing mind.
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Rain water that runs of roofs is notorious for bacterial contamination (all the bird and squirrel shit runs off too) and heavy metal contamination from roofing materials. In Seattle, water that’s run off of asphalt shingles is not recommended for irrigating veggie gardens, let alone drinking.
A cistern is cheap and easy and i understand why its an attractive option in the face of uncertain municipal supply. However, it really needs to be at least filtered before use and tested regularly.
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It very well might. Not because of abortion drugs though:
Can nitrates harm a developing fetus?
There is weak evidence that nitrates may increase the risk of birth defects or miscarriage. Women who are thinking about getting pregnant, or who are pregnant, should avoid drinking water contaminated with nitrates.
Iowa has a known problem with nitrates in the drinking water. High nitrate levels are known to dangerously reduce blood oxygen in infants. But tge solution is less hog shit and fertilizer in the creeks and groundwater and nobody wants to hear that
ETA: quote is from Washington state dept of health. High nitrate levels are a problem in many farming communities
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I agree totally on filtering etc…. But rain water collection here goes back a long long time. The people here are familiar with the usual contaminants and it’s usually some kind of combination of the bottled water and collected water. Main point being that they don’t expect the government to provide their water
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Its a very common method around the world for good reason.
However, some things really need specialist skills and water quality monitoring and water treatment are two of them. Having a government one can trust enough to monitor and treat the water supply works much better than asking every household to do it. Just like people can pasteurize milk at home, but its better all round if they don’t have to
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A good a time as any to point out that Liberty University (sic) is the braintrust Kegsbreath wants to develop the “warrior” qualities of the next generation of military leaders.
I’m sure, just as they’ve done on the topic of water safety, they’ll do a fascist (I mean, fantastic) job in their new role.
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You forgot illiterate. And politicians depend on the innumeracy and illiteracy of the average American voter.
Most Americans didn’t read many books in 2025
About how many books have you read or listened to so far in 2025? (% of U.S. adult citizens)
0: 40%
1 - 4: 27%
5 - 9:13%
10 - 19: 9%
20 - 49: 6%
50 or more: 4%
Note: Responses of “not sure” are not shown.
So in other words 2/3 of Americans read less than 5 books last year, and 40% admit to reading zero books last year.
And math?
Approximately 55% of American adults may be considered innumerate, lacking the basic ability to use math to solve everyday problems. US adults average in the lower-middle range of proficiency (Level 2), with only about 9% demonstrating high-level math skills. This widespread numerical illiteracy affects everyday calculations, risk assessment, and financial decisions.
Key details regarding numeracy in the US include:
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Performance Levels: Adults often score in the lower ranges on international assessments, with the US often ranking behind many other developed nations in math proficiency.
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Functional Gaps: Roughly 34% to 38% of people struggle with basic concepts, such as converting percentages to decimals (e.g., understanding that 1 in 1000 is 0.1%).
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Common Mistakes: About 36% of people cannot calculate probability, such as identifying how many people out of 1,000 would win if each had a 1% chance.
Innumeracy, similar to illiteracy but applied to numbers, is common among educated adults, often hindering their ability to interpret statistics or understand risks.
I think we have identified the problem!
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