Iowans Livid Over New Pesticide Bill Deemed ‘Cancer Gag Act’

For the past several weeks, Iowans have been expressing outrage over a bill that some say would essentially "give the wolf the keys to the henhouse." The wolf, in this context, being corporations that produce pesticides that could potentially be harmful to humans who find themselves exposed to such for a great deal of time.

The bill, known as Senate File 394, would make it extremely difficult, almost infeasible, for Iowans to take companies like Bayer or other multinational corporations to court should they be harmed by using their products. It's a form of tort liability that instead grants corporations a strong level of immunity from lawsuits if they simply put a warning label on their pesticide products warning consumers of health or safety risks.

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That warning label seems justifiable and commonplace, until you realize that the bill essentially deems that as the extent of a corporation's responsibilities to the public who purchases and uses their products.

The bill, which has become known as the "Pesticide Immunity Bill" or the "Cancer Gag Act," passed the Iowa Senate, much to the chagrin of Iowans across the state. The good news, however? The bill has stalled in the Iowa House as of yesterday.

Iowa House Speaker Chuck Grassley said the bill did not have the support in his chamber to advance to Governor Kim Reynolds' desk:

I think a lot of our members see both sides of this issue when it comes to making sure that we have a product that's actually made here in Iowa, that's an America made product. That we want to continue to have access, to know, being able to use things like glyphosate and use roundup. This product has been following all of the EPA approved labeling and so it's more about a labeling bill, but I think some of the narrative that's been out there maybe distracts from that and I think the caucus just is in a position where they're not sure they can support it at this point in time - Iowa House Speaker Chuck Grassley, per We are Iowa

Per We are Iowa, at the center of the debate is Bayer's product Roundup, which is facing multiple lawsuits over allegations that the product causes cancer. Bayer disputes such claim, and the Iowa Capitol Dispatch reported that the company said it's in compliance with the EPA when it comes to product labeling.

Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, the executive director of Modern Ag Alliance, argues that farmers in Iowa overwhelmingly support this legislation because "they are tired of having their critical tools jeopardized by the litigation industry."

Meanwhile, Food & Water Watch, a D.C.-based non-governmental organization group, found 89% of Iowa voters oppose pesticide immunity legislation, per We Are Iowa. State Representative Megan Srinivas (D-Des Moines) said that the bill "tells Iowans that your lives don't matter especially when we're facing an epidemic at disastrous proportions."

Thankfully, the bill has stalled in the Iowa House. Read more about its latest developments on We Are Iowa's website.