Iowa Passes Ag-Gag Law

The Iowa Senate has approved a bill designed to deter animal-welfare advocates from obtaining undercover footage of factory farms. The measure, which passed the Senate in a 40-10 vote, is a revised version of House File 589, a bill that would have criminalized the act of filming or recording operations on a farm without the owner’s consent. Rather than barring individuals from obtaining footage covertly, the new legislation prohibits people from accessing the farm’s facilities under false pretenses. Under the new law, an activist who lies on a job application with the intention of documenting internal operations will face charges of “agricultural production facility fraud.” Mercy For Animals Executive Director Nathan Runkle has spoken out against the bill, calling it “patently un-American, dangerous, and a broad government overreach.”