All three state lawmakers serving Webster County voted for a bill outlawing abortion, in many cases, after a heartbeat can be detected during a one day special legislative session that included raucous protests in the Capitol.

State Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, of Fort Dodge, and state representatives Ann Meyer, of Fort Dodge, and Mike Sexton, of Rockwell City, all Republicans, voted for the bill during Tuesday’s session.

“I think it’s a fair bill,” Meyer said Wednesday afternoon. “I think there has to be a restriction on how far an abortion can go in a pregnancy.”

Kraayenbrink said Tuesday’s vote was the third time he has voted to approve restrictions on abortion. He said he voted in 2017 for a bill to ban abortions after the 20th week of a pregnancy, then voted in 2018 for a measure identical to the one passed Tuesday.

“I’ve always been pro-life,” he said.

He added that his pro-life beliefs include opposition to the death penalty.

Current Iowa law requires pregnant women to have an abdominal ultrasound before seeking an abortion.

The measure approved Tuesday bans abortions if a heartbeat is detected by that abdominal ultrasound. It has been stated that the heartbeat can be detected six weeks into a pregnancy, but Meyer, who is a nurse, said that the heartbeat might not be detected for as long as 17 weeks.

The bill would allow abortions in cases of rape or incest which are reported to authorities within specified periods, cases in which the infant will not survive outside the womb, and to save the life of the mother.

“I’m pro-life,” Meyer said. “However, I said before I was elected and after I was elected that I would support the heartbeat bill only if it included those exceptions.”

There were about 300 to 400 protesters on the main floor of the Capitol, just outside a room where a Senate committee was hearing testimony on the bill, according to Kraayenbrink.

“Outside it was very loud and very vulgar and something that if my grandkids were there I would not let them listen to,” he said.

He said that late Tuesday night, as Senate President Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, was trying to give her closing remarks, she was interrupted by shouting from spectators in the Senate gallery.

“It was not a very proud moment in Iowa politics,” Kraayenbrink said.

He added that state troopers escorted most of the people out of the gallery.

Gov. Kim Reynolds called the legislature into special session to address the abortion bill. Kraayenbrink and Meyer said they did not know why the governor ordered a special session instead of waiting for lawmakers to take up the matter when they convene in January.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Kraayenbrink said.

He said he suspects the lawsuits over the bill were a factor.

“I think she wanted it to end up in our Supreme Court’s hands as quick as possible,” he said.

Meyer added “I think the rationale was the sooner we get the bill done the sooner the courts can look at it and the sooner we can start saving more babies. That’s the urgency the governor relayed.”

Tuesday’s special session probably cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lawmakers who were present were paid $150 per diem plus mileage. Since there are 150 members of the legislature, the $150 per diem would total about $22,500. One senator was absent, reducing that total cost by $150.

A call seeking comment from Sexton was not returned by deadline Wednesday evening.