Help support Iowa CMV legislation

Help support Iowa CMV legislation

We are excited to announce the introduction of CMV legislation in the state of Iowa and are asking for residents of Iowa to please help us with this effort.

The CMV Education and Screening Bill was inspired by Pippa Devereaux, who was born with congenital CMV, and is being supported by her mother, Amanda, from Des Moines. "This bill aims to prevent this virus and treat babies who are born with it. Treatment can help minimize the effects of the virus, which can include hearing loss, vision loss, developmental delay and cerebral palsy," says Deveraux. 

The CMV Education and Screening Bill is Iowa Senate File (bill) 2057 and it can be found at: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=SF2057

We ask that parents, professionals, and supporters take the time to email each of the members of the Human Resources Committee and state your support for this CMV Education and Screening Bill that is currently in the Human Resources Committee. The bill needs to get through the committee by 2/18.

Committee member email addresses:
liz.mathis@legis.iowa.gov
amanda.ragan@legis.iowa.gov
david.johnson@legis.iowa.gov
chaz.allen@legis.iowa.gov
joe.bolkcom@legis.iowa.gov
mark.chelgren@legis.iowa.gov
mark.costello@legis.iowa.gov
bill.dotzler@legis.iowa.gov
julian.garrett@legis.iowa.gov
pam.jochum@legis.iowa.gov
mark.segebart@legis.iowa.gov
rich.taylor@legis.iowa.gov
mary.jo.wilhelm@legis.iowa.gov



Please feel free to use the provided language below in your email and please be sure to mention your city and a bit about your connection to CMV:
"I urge you to support the CMV Education and Screening bill that is currently in the Human Resources Committee. This bill is important to the health and quality of life of women, children, and families in Iowa. There are many reasons to support this bill. Firstly, women deserve to know about this preventable, common, virus that can cause serious birth defects and developmental delays. Secondly, children deserve to be tested for this virus, so that they may be given antiviral treatment that has been shown to improve their outcomes. Thirdly, the problems caused by this virus are expensive to treat. Preventing this virus and treating babies who have it will save millions of dollars of health care costs each year. Thank you for your consideration."

For more information about how you can support this bill in Iowa, please visit our State Advocacy Guide: https://www.nationalcmv.org/overview/advocacy-guide_1015.aspx